Promises
by lil-epad
Summary: Lucy Heartfillia is a rich heiress with a lot of secrets. Her newest secret? She just agreed to marry a man she doesn't know for a price even the wealthy cant buy. NatsuxLucy Got a good chunk of this already done, reviews equal faster releases. AU. Characters at their core are the same but slight deviations. No crybaby Lucy/Emotionally underdeveloped Natsu. Slightly futuristic.
1. Promises

Authors Note: Hey Everyone. I have a good chunk of this story written and am going to upload more if people seem to like it. I've been an avid reader on this site for years and had published 2 other stories that I unfortunately did not continue. The reason for this? I wrote them when I was like 13 years old and that was a LONG TIME AGO *seriously, though*. I look back a bit and cringe at my writing so I cant bring myself to continue those stories at the moment, maybe a revamp one day. But I've since improved and am uploading a new story!

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Summary: Lucy Heartfillia is a rich heiress with a lot of secrets. Her newest secret? She just agreed to marry a man she doesn't know for a price even the wealthy cant buy. NatsuxLucy

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It wasn't like she had planned to fail her chemistry test. In fact, she would have aced it if she hadn't fallen asleep during the exam. However, Lucy Heartfillia had stayed up to an ungodly hour the night prior marathoning _Supernatural_ with Sting at the hospital, and quite frankly she didn't care what her grade was in that class.

She was smart. So smart that she could take one look at something and have it engraved in her memory forever. Some would call this a gift, and in many regards it really was. However there were often times in Lucy's life that she wished she was born as normal as the idiot Sorano Agira who sat three rows down from her. Sorano's biggest problems seemed to revolve around which boy would produce the most suitable offspring, and her worst nightmare would be wearing lipstick that clashed with her outfit.

Taking another look at the giant "F" that adorned her otherwise unmarked paper, Lucy crumpled up the wretched piece of tree and stuffed it in her bag. She would have to remember to burn that before Mirajane saw it. It shouldn't be too hard to remember considering she couldn't forget something even if she tried.

Sighing, Lucy's eyes flashed towards the clock ticking unnecessarily slow at the front of the class.

"And so I expect you all to find a suitable partner for your first project before the week is over." Mrs. Blackburn's monotone voice interrupted Lucy's thoughts of escape. "For all you expecting to suffer from a lack of a substantial GPA, this is where you will make up marks that could assure you don't waste my time again next term."

Rolling her eyes, Lucy groaned at the thought of having to work with one of the idiots from her class. If she broke the entire class down, they would all fall into three separate categories. First, there was the herd of athletic males that would rather be playing with a ball than an equation. Then, there were the giggling social climbers, Sorano included of course, who Lucy was quite sure was only in the class flaunt their assets and to play with a very different set of balls. Finally, there were the GPA boosters who were actually there to get a good grade in order to move on to what they thought were bigger and better things.

"Make sure to have your partners chosen by Wednesday's class, that includes you as well Miss Agira." Mrs. Blackburn looked pointedly at Sorano who was trying very hard to get Footballer Trystan Blake's attention.

As if on cue, the bell rang out a long tone that signalled the end of fourth period and therefore the end of the day. Packing up her things, Lucy quickly exited out the back door and began making her way towards the parking lot where Mirajane would be waiting in her shiny black SUV. Climbing in, Lucy glanced towards Mirajane, a woman whom was hired by her more absent then not father to take care of her while he was away on business. Mirajane was in her early twenties; she had platinum blonde with startling blue eyes, and doubled as a personal assistant for Lucy's father Jude. Despite her age, the woman was scary good at her job, and excelled in perfection when it came to organization, cooking, and self defence.

Lucy had gone through many different keepers since a young age, as she had been the target for many bad organizations who wanted to kidnap her for their own personal gain. It wasn't just her skill of a perfect memory that made Lucy a target. In fact, most people didn't even know that she possessed the gift. Rather, the true reason she had been targeted was solely due to her family name. The Heartfillia family lineage could be traced back for generations and had become a global conglomerate when it came to the world's most technological advances. Ever heard of the internet? You can thank the Heartfillia family for backing that innovation. Not only did they possess great wealth, their intellectual prowess was known across the world and, as such, made them a large target for their competitors. It seemed genius just ran in the family.

"How was school?" Mirajane asked as she pulled out from the parking lot.

"Enlightening" Lucy replied sarcastically as they passed through the grand _Fairy Falls Academy_ gates.

Fairy Falls Academy for the noble and gifted was an old establishment tracing its roots back to one of the original Fairy Tail schools of ancient the ancient roman empire. It was a sister school that had a few locations around the world where only the elite of the elite were permitted to enter. In Lucy's point of view, the academy must be lacking in the gifted department and instead seemed to be focussing more on the rich and spoiled for candidates instead. Her mind drifted momentarily back to Sorano Agira, a wealthy jewellery heiress who had trouble spelling the word cat in grade six.

"Your grandmother is expected to be in town this evening and wishes for your presence tonight for dinner." Mirajane informed her as she took a left towards the Heartfillia estate.

Lucy nodded as she pressed her forehead against the side of the car window. It was raining outside and the condensation on the glass cooled her forehead, calming her. The rain had always seemed to bring a great amount of peace to Lucy. Perhaps because no matter how much she stared at the millions of droplets falling, there was no way that she could remember the shape of every single one. It was one of the few things she could enjoy without it taking up more space in her mind.

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It was almost six in the evening when Lucy decided she should start preparing for her dinner with her grandmother. Grandeeney Heartfillia was the head matriarch of the family and spent most of her days in France running the European branch of Heartfillia Enterprises. While the woman did not share her granddaughter's photographic memory, she instead possessed an uncanny ability to persuade people to her will. It was said she once coaxed a Prince to give her a title in his land just simply because she enjoyed a fruit that was grown there.

Growing up, Lucy had heard whispers from the servants that her grandmother had even aided in stoping the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 60's. While Lucy didn't know if that last piece of information was fiction or not, a shudder ran through her body that made her not doubt that she had a hand in it. She had experienced the "will of Grandeeney" before, and agreed that it was an ungodly power.

Looking in the mirror, Lucy examined her reflection to see if she was presentable enough to keep Grandeeney from insisting on one of her day long makeovers from hell. While it had been raining the last couple of days, Lucy's skin still carried a sun kissed glow from the hot weather leading up to the precipitation. Her hair, as blonde as was her mothers, fell just past her elbows; and her brown eyes, a gift from her father, stared right back at her. She wore a black spaghetti strap dress that flowed out just past her knees. It was a souvenir from the back of her closet that she had acquired when she was last forced to go shopping with her grandmother. While it wasn't really her style, at least it was comfortable and that was a large plus in Lucy's mind.

Walking towards the dining room, Lucy passed the many pictures that lined the hallway leading to her destination. On all sides she was surrounded by pictures of her ancestors, their faces engraved long ago into her memory since childhood. She could describe them down to the smallest visible mole and it made her smile to see similarities in her own features from them. A petite nose from her great Aunt, Grandeeney's sister. Dark, slender eyebrows similar to her great-great grandmother; and the golden coloured hair that her mother's picture portrayed. Stopping at the last picture before the door to the dining hall, Lucy smiled at the picture of her father. When she was younger she used to sit under that picture when he was away and was often found sleeping there by shocked servants in the middle of the night.

Letting out a defeated breath, Lucy pushed the door to the dining room and was greeted by the sight of not one, but two occupants. Grandeeney Heartfillia sat at the head of the table, a swinging necklace of pearls hanging loosely on her neck. She didn't look too much different from Lucy's memory. She still held the same smiling face and caramel coloured hair that Lucy remembered; her eyes smiling as if she knew something Lucy did not. Her grandmother never got that look on her face unless she was up to something. That fact alone made Lucy cringe a bit. An expression on her face clearly wondering what was the old bat up to now.

"Ah, Lucy. So lovely of you to join us" Grandeeney smiled as she motioned for her to take a seat across the other rooms occupant. There, to Grandeeney's left, was a young man appearing to be in his early twenties. He wore a pair of glasses that he straightened quickly before extending his hand to her. Grabbing her hand, he quickly placed a kiss on the top of her hand and bowed slightly.

"Hello Miss. Heartfillia. My name is Gray Fullbuster."

Nodding slowly as she withdrew her hand, Lucy's mind began to tinker at the young man's last name. If she wasn't mistaken, which she rarely was, the Fullbuster family was very notorious for their influence in the medical industry. They owned hospitals all over the world and ran the world's leading medical advancement labs. You couldn't walk into a doctor's office without seeing their name plastered on something in the room. From what Lucy remembered from watching the news, their company's stock had risen considerably in the last couple of months.

Noticing that her granddaughter had zoned out into one of her trademarked calculations, Grandeeney coughed slightly to remind her of her manners.

Falling out of her distraction, Lucy gave a quick "Hello Mr. Fullbuster" before taking her seat.

Sighing at her granddaughter's lack of self awareness, Grandeeney motioned for the maids to bring in the first course. The conversation turning into idle chit-chat between the older woman and Gray.

Taking a bite of her salad, Lucy sneaked a peek under her long lashes towards her Grandmother. While it was quite normal for Grandeeney to host large parties with many people, Lucy had never witnessed the older female to only invite one other guest.

The remaining courses came in and out promptly enough that within twenty minutes everyone at the table was sitting full and content with their meal. As one of the maids pulled away the last of the plates, tea was served to everyone at the table as the idle chit chat turned to silence.

Deciding that there was no more stalling, Grandeeney turned towards her will-full granddaughter with a twinkle in her eyes. "Lucy, now that we are all filled up there is something we must discus."

Raising her eyebrow, Lucy looked from her grandmother to Mr. Fullbuster and then back to her grandmother, wording a question without having to open her mouth.

"Mr. Fullbuster is here on behalf of the Dragneel family."

Grandeeney could practically see the gears of her granddaughter's brain turning a mile a minute to try and remember such a name.

Unfortunately for Lucy, the name did not ring a bell, so she would be walking into whatever conversation her grandmother had planned blind.

Taking this as his opportunity to interrupt, Gray Fullbuster swiftly pulled out a briefcase that had previously been at his feet during the dinner. Entering the lock code, the hinges flapped out swiftly as he pulled out a a thick stack of legal paper. Flipping though the papers he began to read its contents aloud to the rooms occupants.

"Upon the death of Igneel Dragneel, his last will and testament leaves his entire company, estates and monies payable to the grandson whom marries the granddaughter of longtime friend Grandeeney Heartfillia. If no marriage is made within a year from Igneel's death, the entirety of Dragneel estates will be sold off and donated to various foundations highlighted in appendix E of this document."

Pausing for a moment, Gray looked up from the document to take a look at Lucy's face. The girl looked rather calm for someone hearing that they were to be married within the year; he was at least expecting another one of her raised eyebrows that she was keen on using all evening. Instead, the fair haired girl turned towards her grandmother and smiled sweetly.

"Grandmother." She began. "I don't see why this person's will, a man whom I have never even heard of, has been granted an evening of your time. If that is all Mr. Fullbuster, it has been lovely." she finished, rising from her seat.

"Sit down Lucy." Grandeeney's voice cut through the room. "This matter is of utmost importance for you as it influences your future."

Taken aback by the unusual strictness in Grandeeney's tone, Lucy's own voice faltered out a response. "Why would this influence my future? We have had marriage proposals from multiple families thrown at us for my hand since I was a mere child, and never once had you even humoured the idea. Why now? Why should this man's will even be a consideration?"

Taking a long sip from her tea, Grandeeney thought carefully on her next choice of words.

"I had never considered any of those proposals because I had promised you to someone way before your birth." she stated matter-of-factly.

"When I was young, I fell in love with the man who left this will presented before you. Unfortunately for us, your great grandfather deemed him to be unworthy as his family held no value in our world. You see, he was a simple farm hand at the time of our first encounter. However, one day while out for a afternoon ride my horse had become spooked and decided to take off with me upon him. Igneel had been working in the fields training a newly acquired stallion when he heard by screams for help. I was a trembling mess by the time he got to my horse and coaxed him to calm down. He really had a way with animals that boy, it was as if they were drawn to the calmness he offered." she paused, taking another sip from her tea.

"As the months continued I came to love Igneel with the entirety of my heart. However my father became suspicious of my growing interest in riding lessons with the new farm boy. It was only a matter of time before he found out about my indiscretions with Igneel and fired him from the very stables he had loved so much. Within days of our relationship being exposed your great grandfather granted Lawrence Heartfillia my hand in marriage." she finished, her eyes unfocussed as she remembered the painful memory of her lost love.

A large bang echoed throughout the room as Lucy's clenched fist slammed down on the table top. "I am still failing to see how this tale relates to our current predicament grandmother." she seethed.

Sighing, Grandeeney continued. "Before I left the country to meet my betrothed, Igneel made a promise to me. He swore that if we could not be together in this lifetime because of our social standings, that he would spend his entire life dedicating himself so that his family would one day be able to walk as equals with mine. It was there that we promised our grandchildren, instead of our own children.

We realized if we promised our own children, that the relation was too close, and the chances of our significant spouses suffering would break our promise. You see Lucy, jealously can be a powerful thing. We understood that even though we were to live our lives apart, we still needed to remain considerate to those we shared our lives with."

Lucy allowed for the information to sink in for a moment. What she was getting from this conversation was that her grandmother was a fool who traded her only granddaughter on a whimsical promise made in her youth. Her hands rubbed circles in her temple to dissuade the ever growing migraine she was starting to get.

"I don't see why you didn't marry this, Igneel guy, to begin with if you loved him so much. You never had trouble persuading anyone to your will in the past grandmother." Lucy argued.

A sad look graced her normally smiling grandmother's features for a split second before being covered up with her usual charming smile. "Back then things were very different my dear, and your great grandfather was the one person in this world that I have come across whom bends to no one's wishes but his own."

Growing more and more angry at the situation, Lucy countered again. "You speak of not harming your spouses feelings with this preposterous proposal, yet if your husband Lawrence was still alive, would he not be harmed by this news? Is this not an insult to his memory?"

Getting tired of her granddaughter's remarks, Grandeeney snapped back. "I loved your grandfather with all my heart. While he indeed was not my first love, I did come to love him with time. He was aware of the arrangement that I had made with Igneel, and he respected that if my first love was able to keep his promise of entering our world, then there should be no reason for me to go back on my word. _A Heartfillia does not go back on their promises_ he would tell me, and that made me love him even more."

For once, Lucy was at a lack for words. She was stunned that her grandmother was even considering this as a possibility, and was furious that this was the first time she had heard of such arrangement. Lucy wondered if her grandmother had hit her head or consumed some sort of freaky european plant that made her not think straight, a vast chasm of possibilities circling through her mind to explain Grandeeney's nonsense. Her grandmother must be off her rocker if she thought Lucy would take this laying down.

Just as her mind started to work again, the argument on the tip of her tongue was cut off by the feeling of a sharp prick going into her neck. Instantly, Lucy's body fell limp on the table as she looked up to see Gray putting away the needle he had used to inject her with.

"Oh was that really necessary Mr. Fullbuster?" her grandmother tisked as her granddaughter's eyes began to flutter.

"My apologies Ms. Heartfillia, but as you know time is of the essence." Lucy heard him reply as her eyes finally closed, losing the battle with the sleeping drug in her system.

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DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN. Want more? Review pleaseeeeeeeeee


	2. Dealing with the Devil

Here's the second chapter to keep you guys hungry :P

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Goosebumps rose on Lucy's skin as she shivered at the sudden onslaught of cold air. Rubbing her eyes, her vision adjusted to the dark room that she was currently occupying. Realizing she was not in her own room, she quickly rose as panic began to take over. Looking to her left, she saw the cause of the cold in the form of an open window on the other side of the room.

Her muscles ached as she pulled herself up out of the giant mass of blankets that made up her bed. Walking shakily towards the window, she took a look outside to see only darkness. There was no city lights nor sounds of anything but the rolling thunder accompanying the soft rain that had begun. Looking down she came to the conclusion that she was very high up, at least six stories, which did not bode well for any escape plans from that current exit.

Fumbling around in the darkness, it only took two stubbed toes and one bruised knee for her to locate the light switch near the very tightly locked door that she assumed to be the entrance. When the light flooded the room, it took a few moments for Lucy to adjust her eyesight.

The room was rather large with soft white carpets beneath her toes. It had was painted a light lavender accompanied with silver lamps and a dark bed frame. A vanity with many lotions and potions was placed beside a walk-in closet, filled with clothing that she didn't recognize and shoes that she suspiciously believed would fit if she tried them on.

Starting to get a feel for her surroundings, she explored the attached bathroom that held a tub more reminiscent to a small pool compared to a her standard claw foot. Lucy guessed that it could easily hold ten people and couldn't for the life of her figure out why one would need a tub so big. She was tempted to take a dip to soothe her aching muscles, but gathered her senses when she reminded herself that she had no idea where in fact she was.

Deciding she had had enough of her constant questions with no answers, Lucy headed towards the door and proceeded to pound on the thick wooden frame that held her captive.

"LET ME OUT! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM LUCY HEARTFILLIA AND I DEMAND YOU RELEASE ME FROM THIS ROOM!" she screamed in anger.

It took a good fifteen minutes before she heard the distinctive sound of footsteps approaching. Looking around the room for anything to arm herself with, Lucy's hands quickly grabbed a heavy hand mirror that was previously sitting on top of the vanity. By the time that the lock to the room was undone and the door had swung open, Lucy had thrown the mirror at the new occupant with precise accuracy.

However, instead of meeting her intended target, the mirror was caught by a strong hand attached to a tall male figure whom was smirking.

"Next time love, if your going to throw something, make sure its not something I can so easily catch." his english accent prominent, a cocky grin adorning his features.

Taken aback, Lucy began to back up, the wall stopping her motion promptly.

The man looked to be in his early twenties, with dark rosy hair and tan coloured skin. Lucy could tell that he had a strong athletic build beneath the tailored suit he wore, and his eyes, though dark, seemed intense. His grin widened at her reproach from him, his eyes trained on her as if she were prey.

It only took two steps with his long legs for him to arrive directly in front of her. In an instant, her back was pushed further against the wall as he held her face in his hand. He examined her slowly as if appraising something he was interested in purchasing.

"Well at least grandfather didn't pick a homely girl. I suppose you will do." his voice whispered in her ear, temporarily putting her in a daze.

"It looks as if your lost for words, however I find myself wondering if they do not teach you to speak aloud in America? A boring bride wont do." he tisked as he glanced into her eyes mischievously.

It only took Lucy three seconds for her to snap back to her regular self, her face flushing as she took the opportunity knee the man in front of her in the stomach. She would have to thank Mirajane for that self defence move when she saw her again.

The man balked over slightly, groaning in pain at the contact. This distraction allowed for Lucy to take her chance to duck under his arm and dart out the door he had left open upon his entrance.

A shudder ran through her as she raced down the stone hallway that offered multiple routes for her to take. If she had been conscious during her arrival, she would have remembered her steps. However, that was not the case and unfortunately for her that meant she was trying to escape blind.

It was silent within the stone walls except for the pads of her feet swiftly hitting the floor. By time time Lucy had made three lefts, a right, a flight of stairs and another left, she was breathing rather harshly and was becoming quite frustrated.

"If we were grading you based on cardio, your performance would be a "C" at best Miss. Heartfillia." A voice chimed from the shadows.

Jumping at the sound, Lucy quickly came face to face with Gray Fullbuster, the man whom was working in cahoots with her crazy grandmother.

"Fullbuster! You have got a lot of explaining to do you son of a-"

"Miss Heartfillia," He interrupted as he pulled back the door he was currently blocking. "Your dinner is getting cold."

"And why do you think I would want to do something like eat your food after what you did to me?" she argued, her temper flaring.

At that precise moment a loud grumble was heard throughout the outer hall, coming from Lucy's stomach.

Raising his eyebrow in a very Lucy-ish manner, Gray smiled as he held the door open more, motioning her to sit in one of the two empty chairs in the room.

Normally, Lucy would address more caution when it came to eating food from strangers, yet there was also the fact that her grandmother seemed to trust these people. Their motives were already out for her to think about, and poisoning her food would do little to appease the other parties predicament. Plus, the food smelled delicious.

Lucy's stomach grumbled again, urging her forward in a most ravenous way. She had never felt this hungry and was quite confused as to why she was reaching out, almost in a trance to grab a roll from the table. Forget plain hungry, Lucy was starving.

The table was filled with many options ranging from roast beef to decorative cakes, all mouthwateringly delicious to Lucy.

"Why m' I so—" she swallowed "hungry?" she said said between bites.

"Hmmm… I suppose it probably has something to do with that serum I gave you, It knocked you out for a good three days." Gray answered nonchalantly as he poured her some tea.

Lucy started coughing from this new information, her half chewed food almost choking her.

"Your tea." Gray reminded her.

Reaching for the cup, Lucy sloshed down the liquid before resuming to cough slightly as she cleared her throat.

"Three days? YOUR SAYING I WAS ASLEEP FOR THREE DAYS?! What in god's name would make you give me something that would last for three days?"

"Well, there was the matter of waiting for the jet to be refuelled and ready to fly after it had flown your grandmother and me first from Europe. Then there was the 12 hour flight across the country, and the 5 hour layaway in New York. Plus we had to cross the Atlantic to get to England. It was also advised that you stayed asleep so as not to cause a commotion at the airport, something your grandmother had insisted was a necessary precaution." Gray smiled. "Oh, and it's always nice to try out my companies inventions, you would be surprised to know how often a multi day tranquillizer is requested." a diabolical grin spread across his features.

Feeling like a scientist's test dummy, a wary Lucy took a quick glance around the room. The room was rather small compared to the great hall that Lucy's grandmother had served Gray in. The table would only seat about six people, and there were only two place settings actually laid out with cutlery. At least she now knew what country she was in

"Are you not eating?" she asked, taking another sip from her tea.

"No Miss, that seat is reserved for Mr. Dragneel"

As if on cue, the door opened and the man whom had cornered her upstairs walked in. Seeing that Lucy had not waited for his appearance to indulge herself, he didn't hesitate to fill his plate and dig in as well.

Standing abruptly, Lucy clenched her fists in anger. Pointing in Mr. Dragneel's direction, Lucy turned towards Gray, "You're telling me, that this is the man the old bat and you conspired to marry me to?"

"You know you really shouldn't refer to your grandmother as an old bat" Gray tisked as he exited the room quickly.

A silence filled the room as the remaining two occupants looked at each other from across the table.

Breathing out heavily in frustration, Lucy decided she might as well get this over with and inform the actual other party in this ridiculous agreement that she has no intention of bending to her grandmother's will.

Seeing she was about to speak, he quickly interrupted with "It is nice to meet you Miss Heartfillia. I hope you didn't have any troubles finding the dining room."

Lucy's eye twitched slightly at this. For starters, he was the one she had been running from, and he now has the audacity to act as if this were the first time they had met. However, she also believed that two could play at his game.

"Yes, I may have arrived slightly late as I had to deal with some stomach pains before, however it quickly passed and I found the dinning hall quite promptly." she countered, referencing to the fateful moment before where her knee had connected with his spleen.

Smiling with her response, Mr. Dragneel decided it was time they discussed why exactly she was there.

"I was told that Gray spoke to you before, regarding the necessity of your presence here?"

Happy that someone was finally was getting to the point, Lucy took this as an opportunity to voice her argument.

"Look, Mr. Dragneel."

"Call me Natsu."

"Really? I wouldn't have taken you for a Natsu." she shook her head for a moment, reassembling her thoughts.

"I know that there's this whole senile plan that involves the two of us getting married, however I must inform you that I have no interest in marriage at the moment and would therefore like it if we could fix this whole misunderstanding so I can be on my way." she finished with a diplomatic smile.

A mischievous smile crept up on Natsu's face the further she got into her rant, yet he waited for her to be finished before forming his reply.

"I believe, Miss Heartfillia, that there is a misunderstanding about there being any sort of a misunderstanding when it comes to our inevitable marriage."

She sucked in a breath at the word "inevitable".

Not giving her a chance to interrupt, Natsu continued. "It says in the contract that in order for me to inherit my grandfather's companies and take charge as the head of the family, our marriage shall take place on the first anniversary of his death. After it is official, the two of us are required to participate in the marriage for up to one year for the will to actually come into effect. Upon the end of that year, if both parties wish to separate, then the marriage would be dissolved and the companies would still stay within my rights for completing the requirements my grandfather set forth." Natsu's hand reached out and took Lucy's in his own, convinced his charm would help with the matter.

It was slightly unnerving as to how silent the regularly outspoken Lucy was being. After a moment of silence, she finally decided on what words would most delicately touch on the subject.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" she yelled in his face.

Natsu withdrew his hand when Lucy rose from her seat in anger.

"You honestly think that I would just give up the next two years of my life for a complete stranger? I do not know what you have heard about my family Mr. Dragneel but we of the Heartfillia house shall not be traded like cattle for the whims of others." She said fiercely, glaring at the man in front of her with piercing eyes.

A low chuckle was heard throughout the room emitting from the Mr. Dragneel himself. Lucy's blood began to boil at the thought of him finding their predicament amusing.

"Is there something funny?" she asked through clenched fists.

"Funny? Why no Miss. Heartfillia. It's just that I find it quite amusing that my grandfather would pair me with someone like you. You're quite the firecracker aren't you? I actually don't mind your angry face." he mused aloud.

Lucy wanted to wring his neck.

"What makes you think that I would even consider this arrangement?" She demanded, stomping forward so she was directly in front of him.

"Besides from my obvious good looks?" His cocky grin permanently plastered on his face.

You could practically hear Lucy growl in anger. "Do you really want to marry me? You don't even know who I am and, for your information, marriage is kind of a long term deal. You must realize this?"

"The contract clearly states that we only have to keep up this little farce for two years. One year pre-wedding, and one year after. After that we shall part ways. You'll be an eligible single woman by the time you graduate, and free to go where you please."

It was at that moment that Gray entered the dining room, carrying another one of his trademarked briefcases.

"Oh great, another briefcase. What's in there? An ancient contract written in sheep's blood promising my first born?" She mused.

"Actually, inside is something we have to offer you under the conditions of you agreeing to fulfill the late Mr. Dragneel's request." Gray answered matter-of-factly.

Now it was Lucy's turn to laugh.

"Do you honestly think you can bribe me? I'll have you know that if your offering jewels or money, whatever price you pledge I can easily obtain through my own means."

A knowing smile graced Gray's lips as he flipped back the latches on his briefcase, a puff of dry ice smoke emitting from its opening. Reaching inside, he pulled out a syringe with a blue liquid inside, the label Cryo-36 glued on.

Taking a step back as her last experience with one of Gray's needles left her passed out for three days, Lucy stared warily at him.

"Another one of your experiments ?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I suppose you can say that." He replied, tilting the liquid up and down methodically. "I suppose you could also say that what I hold in my hand here is a third round clinical trial cure for a little known disease called _Fundus Flavimaculatus_. Or, as many call it, Stargardt's Disease"

Lucy sucked in her breath at his words.

"There is no such thing. I looked." she whispered.

"Ah, but there is Miss. Heartfillia. You see, my company has been working on this vaccine for quite some time now, and clinical trials have shown promising results." Gray explained. "The third and final trial will be starting in December, yet only one hundred applicants from around the world are able to participate."

Lucy's anger had fully subsided and she was listening intently to Gray's story.

"Alas, the sooner the individual has the disease receives the treatment, the better their results. After these clinical trials are concluded the full product should be ready for the general public in about five years." He continued.

Taking a second to adjust his glasses, Gray looked seriously towards Lucy.

"We have heard from our sources that your childhood friend, Sting Eucliffe suffers from this previously incurable disease. While trials will one day lead to a mass produced cure, when it comes to the time that Sting has left verses the time for it to hit the market, your friend will not be able to benefit in time to stop the disease's progression."

"And what about repairing what the disease has already taken?" she asked.

"60% of previous trial patients exhibited signs of repair to the damaged area" he answered, "90% cure success rate for eliminating the disease from the body."

"If you sign a contract stating you will hold up your end of the proposal agreement produced by Igneel Dragneel's will, then I will personally grant your friend Sting Eucliffe a seat in the upcoming group of candidates. Now, what do you s-"

"I'll do it." she responded quickly.

Slightly surprised by his new fiancé's sudden change in opinion, Natsu's eyes shifted between her and Gray for a moment. Lucy stood with a fire in her eyes and Gray looked like a cat that had just caught his pray.

"Well that didn't take much convincing." Natsu yawned as he got up and headed toward the room's entrance. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow when when we head to school. We have to be there early to get you placed in a class so I will see you at seven."

Momentarily zoning out in complete bliss over the prospect of Sting being cured, Lucy was brought back down to earth by the words of her soon to be fiancé.

"School… Wait a minute, did he just say school?" she questioned Gray as Natsu had already departed.

"As the future wife of Natsu Dragneel you must keep up with your studies. We have a sister school of your old school Fairy Falls Academy nearby that Natsu attends. Fairy Tail is a fine institution and will serve as a place to hone your skills."

Nodding, Lucy reasoned that she couldn't just quit school. Mirajane would kill her and she didn't feel like having to deal with that any time soon.

Gesturing towards one of the maids, Gray called her over from cleaning up the table. "Great. Now that you understand, I shall have Virgo here take you to your room Miss Heartfillia. Its quite easy to get lost in the manor."

"Ok." Lucy agreed silently.

"I'll have a written agreement drawn up by tomorrow evening for us to make our arrangement legally binding. Your friend's spot in the trial in exchange for your cooperation." He explained as he opened the door for her to enter the hallway.

"Sleep well, Miss. Heartfillia." Gray bid her as he readjusted his glasses.

* * *

OK GUYS! There it is. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. I will go into more depth about Sting's illness for those who don't know what Stargardt's Disease is, might as well keep a little suspense while were at it. THANKYOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED/FOLLOWED/FAVOURITED! Im looking to update every weekend with a new chapter depending on the amount of reviews. If I get up to 20 I might be motivated to release a little earlier next week.


	3. Introductions

Hey everyone! I decided to upload one last one for the weekend. Thanks for all of your reviews. If I get up to twenty I'll post the next chapter.

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The inventor of the word "jet-lag" lacked imagination in Lucy's regard. Although the birds were singing and the maid, Virgo, was pulling her by her feet to try and get her out of bed, Lucy was just not having it. She still felt sleepy from the mini coma drug Gray had given her a few days ago, and the last thing she wanted to do was get out of bed.

"Miss Heartfillia, you must get up! You must not let the young master wait." Virgo pleaded in a petite accent.

Groaning, Lucy stretched as she slowly opened her groggy eyes. You could call Lucy many things, but the one category that would never describe her would be the term _morning person._

Thankful to see that Lucy was getting up, Virgo immediately led her to the bathroom where the giant bath was full, inviting her in to soothe her aching muscles.

"Would you like me to wash your back Miss. Heartfillia." Virgo offered obediently.

"No thanks Virgo, and you can call me Lucy if you wish." Lucy replied wearily as she dipped a toe in the bath. It was customary that personal maids offer this service in elite homes, however, Lucy preferred to use her morning bathing ritual to gather her thoughts for the day. Alone.

A little shocked at the prospect of calling Lucy by her first name, Virgo smiled nervously. "I cannot do that Miss. Heartfillia, to do so is a sign of disrespect."

Lucy nodded in understanding. Most maids and butlers that served in Lucy's world had been trained at special academies. They were practically hardwired to assist whomever became their master.

"Okay, Okay if you say so. Would you mind laying out my uniform for when I am done?"

"Yes miss." Virgo smiled cheerfully at the prospect of being given an order.

"Thank you" Lucy said softly as she allowed herself to fully submerge into the warm water.

The bath felt heavenly and she quite enjoyed smelling all the different options for shampoos and conditioners. She enjoyed a nice fifteen minute soak before deciding it was time to get ready for school.

Emerging from the bathroom, a rush of steam billowed behind her as she walked out in her towel towards where her clothes should be.

Unfortunately, the school uniform wasn't the only thing sprawled out across her bed. Laying back fully clad in Uniform, Natsu Dragneel peaked towards his future wife out from under his long eyelashes.

"Not that I don't love the look" he said, hands gesturing towards her towel clad figure. "Its just, we are heading to school in five minutes and unfortunately a towel is not one of the mandated articles of clothing we are permitted to wear."

Lucy's whole body turned red from head to toe due to the fact that she was standing almost naked in front of a man that she hated.

"This is outrageous!" She screamed as she grabbed her clothing from off the bed.

"I know it is sweetheart, I'll make sure to bring it up at the next school policy meeting."

Glaring at him, Lucy decided to pull him up from his blazer, and kick him out the door; smacking him in the process.

"What's outrageous is that you have the audacity to enter my room without my permission! STAY OUT YOU PERVERT!" she screamed as she slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Seven minutes later Lucy emerged from her room and was lead by Virgo to the car lot where she would be driven to school.

"Your late." Natsu mumbled, rubbing the top of his head where Lucy had hit him earlier.

"Your fault." she replied getting into the back seat with him. If it wasn't for having to waste time with throwing Natsu out of her room, Lucy would have been right on schedule.

Natsu snuck a peak towards Lucy's direction. While he definitely preferred the towel look, he had to admit that she cleaned up well in a uniform. Her thick sunshine coloured hair bounced just past her elbows and the clothes were tailored to fit her slender frame. It was still warm out this time of year, so spring uniforms offered the majority of students a way to cool down. Girls would wear their black skirts with a white button up and a black ribbon tied around their neck. Boys on the other hand got away with only a pair of black shorts and a white button up. They had the option of wearing a tie or not, which today Natsu decided to nix.

The car pulled out and down a long driveway that weaved within a forrest. It was quite beautiful and the gates leading out looked pretty thick. Lucy stored that piece of information incase she ever needed to leave unnoticed.

"So, what's the deal at school?" she questioned.

"What do you mean deal? It's school. We will be there in fifteen minutes." Natsu replied in a bored tone as he shifted his attention to looking out the window.

"I mean what do we say to people. I don't think we could get away with us being cousins, but perhaps we could go with I am merely here studying abroad and your family offered to let me stay at your house?" she reasoned.

"Or, call me crazy, but we could just introduce you as my fiancé?" he replied lazily.

"I'd really like to keep the whole arranged marriage thing quiet until we actually get closer to the date. At least in front of everyone at school." she admitted as she hung her head.

If this Fairy Tail school was anything like Fairy Falls back home, she would have an extremely long day ahead of her. Most of these schools would foster the children of the elite, and it would be rare that a spot would open up for an outsider. Lucy knew she was the new kid walking into a nest of teenagers whom had known each other since childhood.

"If you say so. Its got to come out sooner or later though." He replied as the car came to a stop.

"I'll take you to you to the head office for your classroom placement, but besides that your going to have to find your own way around. Sorry princess, but I don't babysit" He informed her as he exited the car, extending his hand to her.

"Good, because I don't like men who hover." she ignored his hand, walking curtly past him.

* * *

The school grounds of Fairy Tail were very beautiful compared to Lucy's old school. While they both bled money when it came to the aesthetics of the grounds, Lucy couldn't help finding the ones here much more stunning. There was lush green grass everywhere and the entire complex was surrounded by a stone wall which gave the students added protection. Various ponds could be heard splashing in the background if she closed her eyes. Earlier she had walked by the facilitates and while they still held their old fashioned charm on the exterior, many of the classrooms were quite impressive on the inside.

Natsu had taken Lucy to the head office where she was forced to sit down and take what they called a placement test. She was informed that in contrast to her old school, here they placed students in classrooms based on their intelligence. While the test allotted an hour and a half for a student to complete, Lucy was done it within ten minutes. Her perfect memory aiding her in filling out her answers quickly.

The secretary, Mrs. Kinana, seemed rather shocked when Lucy rose from her seat.

"Is there something wrong Miss Heartfillia?" she questioned. "Do you need another pencil?"

"No, I just wanted to tell you that I am done." Lucy smiled as she handed her the completed answer sheet.

Mrs. Kinana's mouth dropped at the girl's speed. "Are you sure you don't want to look over your answers? This is a very important test you know."

Shaking her head, Lucy smiled again and told her that she was sure she was done. The last thing she wanted was to be late for her first class. Arriving late would only make her the centre of attention.

At her old school she was practically invisible to everyone whom she had shared a class with since preschool. While indeed her family was quite renowned and revered, Lucy had been forced by her grandmother to use a fake name since kindergarten in order to add an extra layer of protection. Back home she had gone by Lucy Hale, the daughter of some wealthy businessman who lived abroad. Hardly anyone worthy of getting anyone's attention.

Here however, she would start out fresh with her real name. Lucy found herself in a position where she might very well even make friends, a task that proved difficult with her old classmates.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Kinana was done marking her exam and told her that she was free to leave. "You scored very high Miss Heartfillia. Here are the documents you are to hand to your teacher upon entering the classroom. Your homeroom number is at the top of the page and I'm sure Mr. Dragneel here will guide you there." Mrs. Kinana smiled at the two.

Taking the documents from Mrs. Kinana, Lucy signalled to Natsu whom had fallen asleep in a waiting chair that it was time to go.

Upon exiting the head office, a large wave of female students quickly rushed forward to say hello to Natsu. Lucy was ignored as if she wasn't even there and it didn't take long for her to surmise that the pervert king probably had a large following at this school. This alone easily became reason number one for her to distance herself from him. She didn't get along too well with girls.

Back in Seattle at school, before her best friend Sting had taken sick, the girls in the class would often hide her shoes or place threatening letters in her locker. Lucy ignored them, it wasn't like she wasn't in a position where she couldn't always get new shoes. It was just more of a hassle.

Amongst the commotion of clamouring girls, Lucy became separated from Natsu and decided she could find her own way to her classroom. Walking swiftly in the direction Natsu had been taking her, Lucy quickly took a peek at her class schedule. Her homeroom was listed to be in room 220 so she just had to go around the corner it seemed.

Accurately finding her classroom, Lucy pushed open the door only to be greeted with twenty-eight pairs of eyes looking in her direction. By the looks of it, they weren't informed prior about having a new student in their class.

It only took a moment for the entire class to erupt in whispers and greetings.

"Hi, I'm Loke" a tall red headed boy spoke up first. He had an athletic build and was carrying basketball in his left arm.

"Im Jet, are you lost?" Another asked.

"Im Droy!" a third came forward. "Nice to meet you!" he added enthusiastically.

Taking a step back at their forwardness, Lucy bumped into none other than Gray. He was missing his usual suit and instead wore the same uniform that Natsu had been wearing. He had chosen to wear the tie option for his uniform, his glasses exchanged for contact lenses.

Lucy's mouth dropped. If someone had asked her to guess Gray's age she would have pegged him for twenty five. Definitely not a seventeen year old belonging in her class.

"Miss. Heartfillia, could you please move? You are blocking the door." He stated in a bored tone.

It took a moment for Lucy to remember how to use words.

"Why are you here?" she tried not to stutter.

"Because this is my classroom? I think the better question would be why are you here Miss. Heartfillia?" he wondered aloud. "Are you lost?"

"Why does everyone assume I am lost? I can read a map you know. This is room 220 if I am not mistaken. I was transferred into this class." She held up her registration papers in Gray's face.

For once, Gray was the one to look surprised. He didn't expect Lucy to wind up in his class of all places.

A huge eruption from her new ease-dropping classmates caused Lucy to jump slightly.

"You're in this class!"

"Does it really say that Gray?"

"We haven't had a new student since elementary!"

"A girl to boot!" they hollered.

Lucy took a look around at the last comment. It seemed as if the class was divided 80% male, 20% female with herself included. A total of six girls in a class of thirty people. Just great.

It was at that precise moment that the home room teacher walked in.

"Will everyone please take their seats? What's with all the commotion?" a grey haired ancient looking teacher spoke with a deep voice.

Everyone in the room quickly took their seats as Lucy was left alone at the front of the room.

"Are you having trouble with the concept of finding your seat Miss….Forgive me but I do not recall your name." he said, shifting through his attendance slip. "First week of classes and all."

Walking forward, Lucy handed him the registration forms that she had gotten earlier.

"Ah, so you're the new student at Fairy Tail." He nodded as he looked over her papers. "We teachers were told last night that a new student was coming but weren't sure on your class placement. I must admit that I didn't even entertain the idea that you be placed in my class."

Red creeped up Lucy's neck as she started to feel a little embarrassed standing by herself at the front of the class. Twenty-nine pairs of eyes examined her like she was an alien or something, and even the teacher thought she was lost. She knew that she hadn't read her class schedule wrong, she of all people would remember it.

"Well you might as well introduce yourself Miss. Heartfillia, and by the way my name is Mr. Makarov Dreyer. I am also the headmaster of this fine establishment. " he smiled, encouraging her to speak.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy tried her best to introduce herself without stammering over her words. One-on-one she could talk someone's ear off, but in front of a crowd of people she would most often find herself stuttering. Public speaking was defiantly not her forte.

"My name is Lucy Heartfillia. I have just transferred here from America and am currently billeting a room from Natsu Dragneel's family…" Getting that fun tip out of the way first, she took a breath, "I like books, indoor sports, and cooking. My birthday is in July and I play the piano." She finished quickly.

Lucy could hear some hushed whispers at hearing she was living with Natsu, but ignored them when she turned to her teacher.

"Where would you like me to sit?" she smiled.

Headmaster Dreyer looked over the classroom briefly before speaking, "Please take the seat nearest the window next to Mr. Fullbuster and we will get started."

Lucy's eye twitched a bit at having to sit next to Gray. She couldn't seem to get rid of him the past few days and now she would have to endure him at school as well. She wove between desks and made her way to her seat, praying that by ignoring him he would get the hint that she was not going to play the guinea pig in any more of his experiments.

She could already tell that this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed. This story is going to be a long one so I do like to take my time with introducing characters and getting to know why they act the way they do. Someone pointed out that Lucy isn't developed enough yet, which I agree, which is something that will be addressed as the story goes on. It takes time to create a well sculpted character and Lucy is no different. She is a fiercely caring person who cherishes the people she does have in her life, so while some find it a little strange for her to accept the marriage proposal so soon, just wait until you see more of the bond that she has with Sting before jumping to the conclusion that her decision was made too quick.

THANKS TO ALL THAT REVIEWED AND FOLLOWED/FAVOURITED


	4. Like a moth to a flame

Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews and the follows! Keeps me motivated. To all those with kind words, you inspire me.

Once again, I must note that this is a long story, and for people who hate the idea of even a hint of Lucy pairing with anyone else, know that INDEED this is a NatsuxLucy fic through and through. That doesn't go to say Lucy doesn't have her admirers. But theres no point starting a witch hunt before you even give me the chance to write Lucy's perspective. If thats not your cup of tea, no need to read :)

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Once the lunch bell rang it was as if everyone had sprung into action. Lucy's desk was surrounded by her classmates, all asking her more about herself. The questions ranged from where she had attended school prior, to how she wound up living at the famous Natsu Dragneel's home. With all of the questions coming at once, Lucy found herself getting dizzy and not knowing where to start with her answers.

She thought that by getting the whole "I live with Natsu Dragneel" part of her life out in the open, it would reduce any questions people would ask when they are seen getting in and out of his car each day. Luckily for Lucy, it was at that precise moment that Gray's voice cut in.

"Lucy." he spoke her first name for the first time.

It was so unnerving to hear him call her Lucy, that she forgot she was ignoring him and turned her head towards him.

"I'll escort you to the dining hall since you're new, but we have to leave now as I refuse to be late for our next class."

Lucy was shocked. For the first time since she had met Gray Fullbuster, this was actually the only time he had helped her. No needles to knock her out, no bribes to get her to agree to an outrageous contract. Just simply someone saving her from having to answer a bunch of questions she really rather not. Hell must have frozen over. The ice prince has thawed people.

Offering him the biggest smile that slightly caught Gray off guard, Lucy rose from her seat to accompany him.

"Im sorry everyone, It was lovely to have met you all but I am feeling rather hungry" she offered as an excuse.

Gray could practically feel the jealous eyes of some of his male classmates boring into the back of his skull. While the girl before him was far from well mannered, he had to admit to himself that she wasn't exactly ugly. She wore little to no makeup yet her eyes were still able to draw a person's attention. The doe eyed idiot had a raw kind of beauty about her that the males were quickly taking notice of.

He sighed deeply in frustration at this fact while leading her out of the classroom. Gray could already imagine Natsu growing frustrated by his fiancé's admirers. Even though Lucy and Natsu's relationship was all for the sake of the contract, he could actually imagine Natsu taking an interest in his soon to be fiancé. Like a moth to a flame.

Gray had known Natsu since they were kids and in that time he learned quite a lot about his best friend. One of the tidbits that he had picked up along the way was that Natsu Dragneel does not share his things. It was only a matter of time before someone approached Lucy; and when Natsu doesn't like something he does something about it.

This whole situation was going to give Gray a headache. He could imagine it now, having to pull his best friend off some freshman making a move on Lucy. That same fiancé that he doesn't even intend to keep for that long as a wife. Natsu was a wild card and hard enough to control as it was.

"Hey slow down! My legs aren't as long as yours!" Lucy said half panting after jogging to keep up with him.

Gray halted his movements immediately which resulted in Lucy running into his solid back. She made a soft "omph" as she collided, then pushed herself back to sturdy herself.

"There we go. Thought I lost you there for a moment, you really zoned out." she laughed. "Thanks by the way."

The glowing smile she directed towards him made Gray stop for a moment.

"For what?" he asked, regaining his thoughts.

"I really didn't feel like answering all their questions. Why were they so worked up anyway? What is so special about that 220 class that everyone was so shocked that I was in it?" Her mouth ran a mile a minute.

"11A, 220 is the room number." he corrected as he began to lead her once again towards the cafeteria.  
"What's 11A?" she asked, following.

"In this school the students are placed in classes based off their scores on the entrance examination that you took this morning. The school teaches children from their preschool years all the way up to grade twelve, yet those grades are divided further than just your age.

For example, in the first grade there would be three separate classes all labeled either 1A, 1B or 1C. If you are in group C, you are considered to be simply average in intelligence based of your test score. This would be similar to someone obtaining a mark of under twenty out of fifty on the entrance exam."

Lucy nodded signalling that she understood.

"1B on the other hand, would have children of a slightly higher intellect. They would have an average score of 21-40/50 as their examination score."

"Ah, so the first graders in class 1A must hold scores between 40-50/50 correct?" she asked.

"Yes, although it is extremely rare that someone achieves a perfect 50 out of 50. The entrance examination is extremely difficult. In fact, it is so difficult that it is almost impossible for students to raise their mark and join a higher class. They are given the chance at the beginning of each year to try, but rarely is there ever a change." He went on. "Most of our classmates fall within the 40-45 range. I myself scored a 48." he almost sounded boastful. "What was your score?"

"Hmm…" Lucy thought while tapping her head. "I actually have no idea." she laughed.

Gray raised his eyebrow at this. "Didn't you receive your score at the head office?"

"No, the lady working there must have forgotten to give it to me." Lucy answered.

"Thats odd…" He replied. "Well it seems you must have some brains in that head after all if you were able to get into 11A."

Lucy didn't know if she was suppose to take that as a compliment or an insult. Just as she was about to reply, he guided her through a grand pair of doors which opened to the dining hall.

The room was quite large, circular in shape with granite floors and large windows allowing for adequate lighting. There were paintings on the roof that reminded Lucy of a hotel she had stayed in at Las Vegas, though she imagined the ones here were a lot older.

There were many tables throughout the hall, each place setting having its own respective cutlery and napkin. A huge chandelier was placed dead centre in the room and an unlit fireplace took up a large area across from Lucy. All in all it was a very beautiful set up in her opinion.

"Shall we take a seat?" Gray asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

Lucy nodded, still looking around as he guided her to the nearest table.

"Here." He said as he passed her a menu. "Someone will be by soon to take your order."

Taking a peek at her choices, Lucy was glad to see that the school offered a wide selection of meals, not all of them horribly over the top with gourmet recipes. Some of Lucy's favourite foods included ones you could get at your local supermarket. She would often beg Mirajane to make her a simple lasagne in comparison to the caviar her grandmother loved so much. She would take a cheeseburger over a lobster dish any day.

"Ill have the clubhouse sandwich with french fries please." She requested towards their server whom had popped up moments after she had sat down.

"Filet Mignon, medium rare with the vegetable pairing." Gray added.

The waiter nodded quickly before taking their menus and departing towards the kitchen.

Finally able to relax a bit, Lucy stretched in her chair and closed her eyes briefly. While Fairy Falls academy was one of the top rated schools in the country back home, it really had something to learn from its sister school.

Even though Lucy hated that she was forced into this whole situation, she was actually enjoying a change of scenery. While their class placements were a little weird, she understood the method behind doing it.

Before she had been forced to sit in class after class with idiots like Sorano Agira, while here her classmates seemed actually dedicated to learning. It was quite refreshing in her mind, and she decided she might as well make good of a bad situation. When it came down to it, if it was for Sting, Lucy would do anything. He was her best friend after all.

It was at that moment that the dining hall doors slid open and Natsu Dragneel made his first appearance of the day. He travelled in a group of loud guys all exclaiming how hungry they were. Amongst the group of men was a lone beautiful girl with curly blonde hair. She walked as close as she could to Natsu without touching, the two of them naturally falling in step with one another.

"She looks like a doll." Lucy said aloud, staring.

Gray turned around in his chair to see what Lucy was talking about. Upon seeing the blonde he visibly shook.

"That devil woman is nothing like a doll. Trust me, you don't want to get anywhere near that one." he muttered while shaking his head.

Cocking her head to the side in confusion, Lucy watched as her fiancé and the blonde woman walked nonchalantly towards her table.

"Hey Gray, you already order?" Natsu asked as he approached, nodding in Lucy's direction in acknowledgement.

"Yes we just got here as well." Gray replied, visibly stiffening as the blond girl took a seat across from him, Natsu following suit and sat across from Lucy.

"Not to worry, they are pretty quick here. Hey I'll take a steak please, medium, don't skimp on the fries, or hot sauce." Natsu asked one of the nearby waiters. "What do you want Mavis?"

The blonde girl, Mavis, smiled and quickly ordered the soup of the day.

"And whom might this be?" Mavis spoke as she looked in Lucy's direction.

Realizing Mavis was talking to her, Lucy quickly introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Lucy Heartfillia. I just transferred here and am currently in the care of Natsu's family during my stay."

The girls calculating smile deepened.

"Tisk tisk. Is that the little lie you two are going with? Its not very convincing is it?" she asked looking up amusingly at Natsu.

"Not by my choice." Natsu responded gruffly, almost sulking.

Reaching across the table, Mavis grasped Lucy's hand and gave it a warm shake.

"I am Mavis Vermilion."

Reaching into her memory, Lucy remembered being introduced to Mavis's parents at one of her grandmother's functions last year. Her mother had mentioned that her daughter Mavis was overseas, so there was no mistaking that this was the same girl. She even looked like her mother.

The Vermilion family was known world wide for its investments in popular fashion lines and beauty products. Lucy's perfect memory brought her back to the day Sorano Agira gushed from outside the bathroom about being able to get one of their new bags before its release date.

Noticing Lucy was doing that thing where she zones out again, Gray kicked her lightly under the table. He really wondered how the girl had gotten into his class of all places when she acted like such a space head.

"As I was saying." Mavis continued, "My name is Mavis Vermilion and I am Natsu Dragneel's fiancé."

It was as if all the air was sucked out of Lucy's lungs.

Looking from Natsu's bored expression to Mavis's mischievous one, Lucy failed momentarily to form a question.

Suddenly, Mavis broke out in a loud giggle as she took her seat again. "Oh your expression, that was priceless wasn't it Gray?" she asked Gray whom was trying his best to ignore her.

"Oh don't look so confused, Natsu has already told me all about your little arrangement. We go way back me and him, Gray as well." She smiled mischievously.

Lucy was having a hard time deciphering what mental illness Mavis must have that would make her be ok with her fiancé having another fiancé.

Instead, she turned to Natsu. "You told her? What happened to us keeping this whole thing a secret?" she whispered harshly.

Natsu sighed.

"Relax Lucy. Mavis, Gray and I have known each other since we were in diapers, she can keep a secret. In fact, Mavis is one of the top research interns working on Sting's cure." he smirked at her. "Don't underestimate her. She's actually quite brilliant."

"and Psychotic" Gray mumbled as he took a bite from his food.

"Besides" Natsu continued, "It's not like she can say anything since she signed a confidentiality form to even work at the hospital. With Sting being a patient under her direct care, she legally is bound not to say a thing about our arrangement."

Lucy wanted to rip his perfect face off. She was seething and her entire focus for her anger was directed completely towards Natsu whom looked like he couldn't contain his laughter much longer. He was acting like he was watching a soap opera unfold. Lucy's frustrated face making his eyes practically beg for popcorn.

"And she's your fiancé? When were you going to tell me that you were already betrothed to someone you two timing son of a-"

"Jealous, love?" he taunted.

Lucy's face turned a dark shade of red at his comment. There was no way in hell Lucy held any feelings except for contempt towards Natsu Dragneel, and she was just about to tell him as much.

"You know your flustered face isn't that bad either." Natsu interrupted antagonizing her further.

Lucy was about to reach across the table and wipe the smirk off his face when she was cut off by Mavis giggling again.

"I'm so sorry Natsu, but I cannot let this go on, she looks as if she's about to wring your neck." Mavis laughed. "Lucy, Natsu and I aren't technically actually engaged."

Lucy stopped mid strangle.

"You see, when we were children there were often many girls who wanted to date our poor Natsu here." She patted his head in mock sympathy. "It got so bad that I once caught him being chased by a hoard of girls trying to give him Valentine's chocolate. Not even joking, there were fifty of them and he hid in a tree for an entire night." Mavis reminisced.

"It got so bad that we decided in sixth grade to come up with a little white lie." She winked. "It was a sad day for the girls in this school when they were told that we were betrothed by order of our families, but in the end it made the majority of them back off."

Lucy nodded at this. She knew that in her world the children of the elite were often married off in order to solidify business deals. She herself had received copious amounts of proposal letters since childhood, yet her grandmother had always thrown them in the trash. Lucy always wondered growing up how people could simply offer up their sons to marry her, not even knowing what she looked like the majority of the time. The Heartfillia family was a powerful family, and many wanted to join it.

Then again, who was she to judge. Here she was, engaged at seventeen with a promising future of being a divorced woman before she even went to college. She cringed at the thought.

"So even if your not engaged, you two are obviously still a couple correct? How could you be ok with the arrangement between Natsu and I?" Lucy asked the blonde.

Mavis's infectious laugh started up again. "Oh no no no no no. You have us all wrong Lucy. Natsu and I are simply friends, quite frankly I'm happy your here because now we can end this silly farce."

Not understanding, Lucy looked at Mavis with confused eyes. The two looked like they were in total sync. How could they not be dating?

"I mean, you're his actual fiancé right?" Mavis continued, her eyes wide and pleading. "Once it's officially announced I'm off the hook and dear Natsu here is all yours."

The colour in Lucy's face drained at the thought. "Wait, announced? You must be mistaken Mavis, were not announcing anything. I thought you said Natsu told you everything?"

Flicking her hair behind her back Mavis suddenly became very focused on her nails. "Oh he told me about how shy you are. You really shouldn't worry so much Lucy. While Natsu here is quite the idiot, he at least makes a good trophy husband."

"Hey! I'm right here you know?" Natsu interrupted.

Ignoring him, Mavis reached across the table again and grasped Lucy's hands so swiftly that she didn't see it coming. "You must come over to my place before the announcement party! I have already decided what outfit I want you to wear." she said, her eyes gleaming.

Lucy could now fathom why Gray was so scared of this woman. She seemed to have a one track mind when it comes to getting what she wants. Lucy shuttered slightly at Mavis's likeliness to her own grandmother.

"Wait a second, did you say announcement party?" she asked as all three of their heads pretended to gaze in a different direction.

"Announcement for what?" she asked again, louder this time.

"Why your engagement announcement silly. Gray is she really in your class?" Mavis asked.

"Wait you're in Gray's class? How the hell did that happen?" Natsu interrupted with a hint of anger in his voice.

Lucy turned to her future husband and placed the sweetest smile on her face before she worded her question. "Mr. Dragneel, would you be so kind as to fill me in with what announcement party she is talking about?"

Natsu shuddered slightly as he looked at the menacing smile on his future wife. While the rest of the world would see her as a sweet young girl asking a simple question, he knew deep down that her smile only meant trouble for him.

Deciding to save his friend from Lucy's wrath, Gray found it the perfect time for him to step in.

Putting on his business face, he began "The contract clearly states that you are to be officially engaged for the year leading up to your impending marriage. Being who you are and and who Natsu is, it is therefore a requirement that you are to officially announce your engagement to the world. The arrangements have already been made and the date is set for in the new year. If you fail to comply, the agreement made regarding your friend Sting will be null and void."

Lucy's eye twitched slightly at Gray's sudden drastic change from a regular school boy to a conniving analytical bastard. She surmised that she would have to keep an eye on him as his obvious split personality could cause problems for her in the future. Ice prince 2.0 was back, and she was not about to let her guard down when it came him.

Sighing, she nodded in defeat. Lucy was not used to bending to other people's wills, yet if she wanted Sting to finally have a cure she would have to learn to tame her temper when it came to these guys.

"Fine." She grumbled as she bit into her clubhouse sandwich that had just arrived.

* * *

The rest of the day went by fairly uneventful for Lucy as she moved from class to class. When the bell rang that signalled it was the end of the day she got up and followed Gray to the front of the school where they were to meet Natsu.

"I'll stop by your place later this evening with the documents for you and Miss. Heartfillia to sign." Gray told Natsu once they got into the car.

Natsu nodded to him and shut the door, telling the driver that they wanted him to travel in the direction of his estate.

As the minutes dragged on and the awkward silence continued, Natsu's eyes snuck a glance towards his new fiancé whom was sitting beside him.

Her hands were loosely clasped on her knees, and though her posture was perfect, her tired eyes gave way to how exhausted she really was. They started to blink slower and slower until Natsu was pretty sure that the girl had fallen asleep.

He reasoned that Gray's sleeping drug was still effecting her body, and felt a very slight tinge of guilt that he was partially responsible for her exhaustion.

He had to admit to himself that Lucy Heartfillia was not your average elite class girl. Most of the girls who attended his school were after him for his looks and social standing, and would give anything to be his fiancé. Yet, here he was, engaged to a girl whom had insulted him on numerous occasions, laughed in his face, and even had the audacity to inflict violence towards him.

Although, he had to admit to himself that he did deserve the knee to the stomach the night prior. Thank god she hadn't hit him any lower.

Noticing a lock of her hair had come loose, Natsu automatically reached out and gently tucked it behind her ear. He was surprised by the softness of her hair, and was even more surprised when she leaned into his hand, still sleeping.

"MhmmhsSting…" she mumbled in her sleep as she curled into his shoulder.

Stiffening at her initial contact, a blush crept up Natsus neck as he wondered what he should do next. If he woke her up, she would most definitely hit him, yet if she woke up on her own in their current position, that would also result in her hitting him.

Deciding he was screwed either way, Natsu leaned back and relaxed as he allowed the girl to use him as a pillow.

"You must really care about your friend if your willing to do all this for him." He whispered aloud as he too closed his eyes.


	5. Sign my life away

Wow! Got a lot of follows on that last chapter. I wasn't planning on uploading more until next weekend but I decided to add one small chapter. Please review. I am going to try to stick to weekend updates but if I see reviews I might be tempted to post sooner.

Enjoy

* * *

Lucy woke up in the plush bed that she had spent the night prior. Stretching, she looked outside and saw that the sun was starting to go down. The funny thing was however, she didn't remember going to bed in the first place.

In fact, the last thing she remembered was sitting in the car with the man she unfortunately would, one day soon, have to marry.

She wondered briefly if he had taken her to bed, yet shook her head when she noticed she was still in her school uniform. She would have reasoned that if Natsu Dragneel ever did something so nice as to carry her to her room, the pervert would have taken the opportunity to change her into a night gown. Pervert.

Stretching, Lucy decided she might as well go and explore the manor, her grumbling stomach signalling that it must be near supper time. Exiting her room, Lucy felt warmth beneath her and silently thanked whomever decided to add a heated floor in the construction of the home.

The house itself was a mixture of old and new, with intricate stonework for walls and highly developed technology for convenience. Lucy's hand ran over the computer screen that was placed just outside her bedroom and noticed the intricate logo of the Heartfillia clan blinking back at her. She smiled at the fact that the Dragneel residence was fully equipped with the home navigation system Lucy's family had developed over a decade ago.

Leonardo was a house based technology that allowed the user to basically plug into the home that it was set up in. It performed a large base of functions that were meant to lessen the stresses of an every day home.

For example, if you wanted to warm up the car for a few minutes before leaving, one would simply inform Leonardo on the keypad and the car would be warm and toasty by the time you got there.

Don't have time to vacuum? Leonardo would send out tank based drones to clean once you were out of the house.

Heck, if you wanted to speak with anyone in the house, Leonardo would automatically find them via their heat signal, and relay your voice through an intercom to whatever room they were in.

Clicking the computer's interface, Lucy saw that while this was the newest model out, it did not have the newest upgrade her company had released a few days ago. After clicking for a few moments, she successfully configured the computer so it would take voice commands, hoping Natsu wouldn't mind. It calmed Lucy a bit to see something that reminded her of home.

When she was a child she was often left alone when her father was away on business trips. It was from this loneliness that Leonardo's voice configuration and personality was conceived. He would learn about his masters habits and speech mannerisms, and respond in the most helpful of ways. It was almost as if he was a real live person sometimes. That way, no matter how long her father was away, she always felt like someone was waiting for her to come home to.

Once her father got word of her adaptions to the program, he quickly got his top tech employees to duplicate and produce the code for everyone's home systems in the world. That had been her first major contribution to the Heartfillia family name, raking in enough money to buy an island.

Which she totally did; then proceeded to turn it into a cat shelter.

It was there that she met Carla, her pure white cat that she just now remembered about. A sharp pang of guilt went through her as she longed to have Carla back in her arms. She would have to speak to Natsu about having her flown over. She briefly wondered if he even liked cats.

"Leo, What is the fastest route to the dining room?"

"A lighted path shall direct you madam. Enjoy your meal" Leonardo replied as lights running along the floor began to light up and show her the way.

Nodding, Lucy began to follow when she stopped in front of a large door to the left of her bedroom. While the lights clearly signalled for her to continue along the pathway, she couldn't help but wonder what was behind it. As far as she could tell, besides her room this was the only other door on her floor. She saw the staircase leading downstairs, its lighted path signalling for her to follow, yet she felt drawn to the door somehow. Her hand reached out slightly, and felt the cool metal of the handle beneath her fingers.

"Authorization required" Leonardo's voice interrupted her action. "Mr. Fullbuster requests to connect to the room for an audio call. Do you accept?"

"Yes." She squeaked as she let her hand fall from the door knob.

"Miss. Heartfillia." Gray's voice rang from the intercom. "Dinner is prepared if you would make your way towards the dining room."

Jumping slightly at the sound of his voice, Lucy withdrew completely from the door and backed away. Shaking her head, she put the mystery room to the back of her mind as she headed towards the staircase.

The dining room was the same as the night prior; large, but small enough to have an intimate conversation. Lucy sat across from Gray and beside Natsu, slowly sipping the soup appetizer that was in front of her.

"If you do not mind reading while eating," Gray began as he passed her a document "Here is the contract that was drawn up for your and Natsu's agreement."

Taking the paper from him, Lucy gave him a curt nod as her eyes began to skim the pages.

* * *

 **Terms:** _This document states that Miss Lucy Layla Heartfillia agrees to the engagement and marriage between herself and Igneel's grandson. As per the agreement, both parties will participate in the engagement and all related aspects expected in the engagement until the wedding takes place on the anniversary of Igneel Dragneel's death, July 2nd, 2016. After the wedding, both parties are to remain married for an entire year in order to complete the requirements set forth in Igneel Dragneel's will._

 **Agreement of exchange:** _In exchange for her compliance in this agreement, Mr. Gray Silva Fullbuster, hereby promises to grant a position to Miss. Heartfillia's friend, Sting Eucliffe in his clinical trial for "Stargardt's disease", starting January 2nd, 2016._

 _If at any time Miss. Heartfillia breaks the terms of the agreement, Sting Eucliffe's placement in the trial will be revoked._

 **Monogamy Claus:** _While in this agreement, both parties are expected the uphold the sanctity of marriage and uphold a monogamous relationship for Igneel Dragneel's will to come into effect. If Igneel's grandson breaches these terms, Miss. Heartfillia will still receive treatment for her friend. However, if Miss. Heartfillia is the one to breach the contract; then she will be denied her agreement of exchange clause, which is located above._

 **Secrecy Clause:** _By signing this document, both parties agree to keep this arrangement a secret from the public eye, and are required to act as though they are voluntarily willing to participate. Violating these terms will result in the disbandment of this contract, and both parties shall not receive what is owed._

 _I, Lucy L. Heartfillia, agree to this document and swear to uphold the requirements to the best of my ability._

 _Signature:_

 _Date:_

 _I, Igneel's Grandson, agree to this document and swear to uphold the requirements to the best of my ability._

 _Signature:_

 _Date:_

 _I, Gray S. Fullbuster, agree to this document and swear to uphold the requirements to the best of my ability._

Signature:

Date:

* * *

Lucy let out a defeated sigh after finishing reading the contract. While it was pretty straight forward in her opinion, she was momentarily surprised at the addition of the monogamous claus as well as the secrecy from the public clause.

Although she was frustrated with the whole idea, she did admit that they had good reason for adding those two into the agreement.

The secrecy clause made sense as she could just imagine the backlash both her and Natsu's family would get if it became known to the public that their marriage was a sham. Their stocks would fall and their credibility would be questioned when it came to future and current business partners.

The monogamy claus she believed was added in junction with the secrecy claus because if someone caught one of them cheating and reported it to the tabloids, the whole arrangement would come crashing down. They had to make their marriage look legit, and trouncing around with random lovers would surely put their sham of a marriage in jeopardy.

"Do you have a pen?" she asked Gray.

The pen felt heavy in her hands as she took a deep breath before hardening her resolve. _It's not like I'm signing my life away,_ She reasoned. _Just the next two years_.

Sting had given her much more of his time over the years; especially during a time where she was at her worst.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Lucy quickly scribbled her signature and pushed the document towards Gray.

Once the dreaded contract was signed, Lucy felt like it was time to excuse herself for the evening. She had had a long day, and her current company was a constant reminder that she was in for a lot of long days in the future.

Natsu watched her leave after she signed the contract. Sighing as he reached out for the pen.

Lucy found herself practically floating back to her plush bed and instantly falling asleep. The last couple of days had really worn her out and rest was her only cure.

* * *

Lol, I am so not a lawyer. So don't be too harsh at my lack of contract writing skills.


	6. Midnight Meetings

_Hey Guys. Hope you are enjoying the story so far. I didn't get any reviews last chapter but I did get quite a few follows :) Thanks everyone for the continued support._

* * *

 _Lucy was running as fast as she could, yet there was something mistakably wrong with her arms in legs. While they moved as any would, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were shorter than before. In fact, she felt that her whole body was smaller._

 _"Mama! Mama where are you!" She screamed as her invisible pursuers got closer._

 _Racing past a large mirror, Lucy's little legs stopped running as she slowed down and approached her reflection._

 _While the face staring back at her was indeed her own, it was smaller and younger then she was used to, her five year old self staring back at her._

 _All of a sudden, lights dimmed and a man with a white cane stood near the door way._

 _"Grab the woman, leave no one alive."_

 _Suddenly the scene changed to Lucy hiding under her bed, her only view; a pair of high heels attached to her mother who stood at the door in defence._

 _"Close your eyes and cover your ears Lulu. Do you remember our game darling? First one to speak looses." her mother's unsteady voice came from above, her french accent shaking._

 _Lucy covered her ears and closed her eyes as her mother instructed, praying that if she was a good girl that listened; everything would be ok._

 _After what felt like hours, Lucy felt something sticky and warm pooling under the bed. Creeping one eye open, she was met with the site of blood. A lot of blood._

 _She screamed._

Lucy's cries echoed off her bedroom walls as she lashed out at her latest nightmare. It had been some time since she had dreamt of that terrible night from her childhood.

Suddenly, the door to her bedroom flew open as a half dressed Natsu entered her room, alarm clearly evident on his handsome face.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" he asked as he looked around her room cautiously.

Still shaking a bit from her nightmare, Lucy looked up at Natsu with tears threatening to fall. It took her a moment to steady her breath and stop the potential waterworks. She very rarely cried and even more rarely did so in front of others.

"Yes I am fine Mr. Dragneel. Just had a bit of a nightmare." she tried to laugh away her terrified expression.

Natsu looked down at the shaking girl and breathed out a long sigh. He reasoned that it must have been one hell of a nightmare to scare this devil woman.

"Are you sure your okay?" he questioned in a worried tone.

Nodding, Lucy moved to get out of bed. She reasoned that she had had enough sleep, and the last thing she wanted was to go back to another nightmare.

"Where are you going? Its way past midnight." Natsu asked as she got up and walked past him into the hallway.

"I can't sleep after that. I think I'm going to make some food and just sit up for awhile. It's the weekend tomorrow so it shouldn't matter too much." she answered as she began fiddling with Leonardo's navigation system.

Grabbing her typing hand, Natsu let out a frustrated sigh as he started leading her down the darkened hallway towards the kitchen.

"Your going to be there all night if you wait for that piece of junk to work." he reasoned as he made a left.

"Piece of junk?" Lucy rose her eyebrow at his comment. "The Leonardo unit has changed the way people live. It is most certainly not a piece of junk."

"The only way that that system has changed the way that I live is that the lights automatically turn on when I enter a room now. Before I had to clap to make that happen." He snapped as he rounded another corner and came upon the kitchen doors.

"We have a chef living here on call. I will send an alert to have him come and make you some food." Natsu reached for the intercom.

Reaching out and grabbing his outstretched hand, Lucy laughed as she pulled him away from the intercom.

"There's no need to wake him at such an ungodly hour. Besides, cooking is what I do best." She winked as she opened the doors.

Natsu followed skeptically behind the blonde haired girl as the lights in the kitchen automatically turned on.

A smile adorned Lucy's face as she looked around at the industrial kitchen that was connected to the dining room. Everywhere she looked there was stainless steel and enough room that an entire kitchen staff could prepare meals for banquets if needed. Multiple ovens and numerous stoves were lined against the far wall, and a walk in freezer full of a wide arrangement of meats and fine cheeses greeted her as she explored.

Back home Lucy's kitchen was large, but not so much as to this scale. Often, if her grandmother held parties, they would order in through a caterer. Here, she was like a kid in a candy store. There were mixers and knives and gadgets she couldn't wait to try out. It was as if, amongst all the bad things that had happened, a sanctuary had been found.

Natsu watched his future wife tip toe around exploring her surroundings with evident glee upon her features. Since she had come to live at his home he had noticed that she rarely smiled. Something within him warmed at the feeling of seeing her such utter glee. He surmised that indeed it was was nice to see that something was finally making her happy.

"Oh wow…" Her petite voice awed as she opened the pantry. "What should I make us? There's so much to choose from!"

"I don't really need anything…" Natsu began as his stomach started to growl in protest.

Lucy raised a brow at this, but smiled as ushered him to sit at one of the countertops. "Just give me ten minutes."

The sound of pots and pans clamouring together began to fill the room as Natsu watched Lucy fiddle around with god knows what.

Growing up, Natsu had been raised by nannies and butlers. His mother was often away on business trips, and his older brother never wanted anything to do with him. Save for the few times that Mavis and Gray had come over, Natsu often ate his meals in silence prepared behind the kitchen doors that he rarely ventured into.

Once, he had snuck in and attempted to grab a snack, but was quickly ushered out by the chef for fear of him getting cut or even worse; burned. Natsu scoffed at the thought.

That was probably one of the reasons Natsu's favourite period was lunch at school. All of Fairy Tail Academy would eat together and enjoy each others company. One was never lonely.

"There. All done. Tada!" Lucy's grin widened as she put a plate in front of him.

Looking down, Natsu saw that she had put together what looked like two wraps, with a filling he wasn't quite sure of.

Diving into her own meal, Lucy's eyes darted to his confused expression as she swallowed her first bite. "Do you not like quesadillas?"

Natsu's face almost looked embarrassed for a moment before his lips formed a question.

"What's a…quesadilla?"

Lucy was lucky she had already swallowed her food because if she had laughed with her mouth stuffed she would probably of choked.

Red crept up Natsu's neck as his whole face began to flush in embarrassment. "Its rude to laugh Miss. Heartfillia."

"I'm..hehe..so…hahah..sorry!" she couldn't contain herself as she held her stomach with laughter. "I forget that you're probably used to fancy food."

Natsu sulked as he glanced again towards his plate.

"Quesadilla's are really popular where I am from. It's basically two wraps fried on both sides with chicken, cheese and vegetables in the centre. Go on, dip it in the sour cream and you will taste magic." She giggled as she rubbed the laugh-induced tears from her eyes.

Glancing at the food and then back at her, Natsu gave her a skeptical gaze as he reached down and grabbed a sliced portion of his quesadilla. "And we just eat this with our hands?"

Lucy nodded as she watched him. For some reason she wanted him to like her cooking, plus it was entertaining to see him struggle.

Seeing that he was being watched, Natsu sighed as he dipped a piece of his quesadilla into some sour cream. Natsu brought the meal to his mouth and closed his eyes as he took a first bite.

Ask anyone who knew Natsu, everyone would tell you the same thing; he was a picky eater.

Not to say that he didn't have a healthy appetite; his was actually quite ravenous. Without parents there to enforce, and with an entire arsenal of kitchen staff, the boy had grown up with his favourites, and it was extremely rare for him to try something new.

However, there was something about the way she was watching him with her round cant-say-no-to expression; he caved.

Chewing a few times, he swallowed as he opened his eyes to look at Lucy. She stared at him expectantly with her large eyes as he cracked a smile.

The food she prepared was good. Not just good, to him it tasted amazing. He found himself wondering why he hadn't tried a quesadilla before, yet reasoned that he probably wouldn't have tried it if it weren't his devil of a future wife asking him to.

"Not bad." he reasoned as he scarfed down the remaining piece and reached for another. "But it could use some heat."

Lucy smiled as she passed him a jar of hot sauce and continued on with her own meal. While at home she would trade cooking duties with Mirajane every other night. Lucy didn't care to have kitchen staff on hand for the day to day stuff. She loved to cook and the two of them would often engage in competitions to see what creations they could come up with.

A large wave of homesickness hit her as she thought back to her home. While she didn't particularly like the people at her school, she did have people there that she cared about, like Mirajane and Sting.

Seeing that Lucy was starting to space out, Natsu took the opportunity to glance in her direction. While most people would think that there was something wrong with her for how often she did this, Natsu found himself being slightly grateful. It was in these moments that he could look at her without being caught.

Her face was indeed pretty, and her long eyelashes compelled him to stare at her dazzling brown eyes. They almost seemed to have flecks of green in them. She was unlike any girl that he had ever seen before; wild looking; yet still dignified, small; yet fierce.

"What are you so lost in thought about?" he questioned.

Jumping slightly at being brought out of her thoughts, Lucy gave him a sad smile. "Just a bit homesick is all. Cooking like this reminds me of Mirajane."

"Ahh the Keeper right?" Natsu surmised as he took a sip of water.

"Wow you guys really do your homework don't you?" she laughed.

"I rather know too much than too little as I'm not fond of being unprepared." he reasoned.

Lucy could relate. Although she couldn't un-know something even if she tried, she reasoned that it did come in handy.

"If it gives you any joy to know this, I looked into bringing your keeper here when I first brought you here. I thought it might make the transition easier." Natsu began. "However your grandmother had her on assignment somewhere else for the time being. It might ease your heart to know that she will be accompanying your friend Sting when they come around Christmas time."

Lucy's face lit up at the news. Her grin grew wide and Natsu decided right then and there that he liked seeing her smile, especially at him.

"Really? this isn't a joke right? I'm going to have to practice so I can show her all my new kitchen skills that I'll acquire working in here." She spoke aloud as she began to clear their plates.

"You can leave that for the staff to do." He motioned towards the dirty dishes.

Lucy snorted at his comment. "One thing that I live by, Mr. Dragneel, is that if you make a mess, your in charge of cleaning it up." She winked as she began washing the pots and pans as well.

Sighing, Natsu watched on as his completely strange fiancé continued her mission.

He reasoned that he still had a lot to learn about her.

After cleaning up the kitchen Lucy still couldn't seem to shake the uneasiness from her earlier dream. While her conversation with Natsu had distracted her for a short time, she still wasn't ready to close her eyes just yet.

Deciding she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, she asked Natsu where the nearest television was. She needed to Netflix marathon hard in order to distract herself from thoughts of her mother. While cooking and conversing with her so called future husband hadn't been exactly terrible, she couldn't exactly expect him to stay up any later just because she had a bad dream.

Natsu led her to the entertainment room where plush oversized pillows offered comfortable seating in front of a huge projection screen.

Tossing her the remote, Natsu immediately sat down on the nearest pillow and started to make himself comfortable.

Raising her eyebrow at his decision to stay, Lucy bit her tongue as she flipped through the categories.

"Have you ever seen _The 100?"_ she asked as she noticed the new season had been released.

"No, whats it about?"

"Oh, you know, typical end of the world type series. Its a Netflix original though, so it's pretty good." she explained as she turned it on.

The show wasn't bad, not that Natsu paid much attention to it. After twenty minutes Lucy had fallen asleep beside him and was now curled up at his side.

Natsu yawned as he adjusted himself slightly to get more comfortable. His eyelids slowly started droop as he reasoned that taking a quick nap couldn't hurt. Surrendering to his tiredness, Natsu pulled up a nearby blanket and let sleep consume him.


	7. Just about enough

_Wow Thanks to everyone for all the kind reviews! They really help with the inspiration!_

 _Someone was wondering if we will be seeing more characters and the answer is YES._ _I will be introducing more characters as we go (Levy, Gajeel, Juvia, and more.) Dont worry, they will show up as the story progresses._

 _Note: Sorry for any writing mistakes. I know it needs to be cleaned up:P._

* * *

 _So warm…_ Lucy thought as she slowly stretched and waited for her eyes to adjust to the light.

Squirming closer to the heat source, it took her a moment to realize that the sweltering hot object in question was actually a tightly muscled arm attached to a very smug Natsu.

"Looks like someones finally awake." His cocky smile practically dripped confidence.

Lucy let out a loud "Eep!" as she backed up as far as she could before the wall stopped her.

"Wwhat the h-hell are you doing sleeping beside me you pervert!" She stammered as her skin turned a deep red.

Staring at Lucy in her semi-woken state, Natsu looked her up and down for a second as he started to let his imagination get away with him. Taking in her appearance, he agreed with himself that she didn't look bad at all with messy haired and a freshly flushed face.

He daydreamed momentarily what it would be like to be the cause of not only her blush but also her less than perfect hair.

Realizing he was taking too long to answer her and that she was slowly reaching for the nearest heavy object - in this case a lamp - to impale him with, Natsu finally found the words to perfectly infuriate his bride-to-be.

"I tried to leave last night." He yawned. "But a certain spawn of satan prevented me from doing so by wrapping herself around me with an iron-tight grip." He lied. "It was rather inescapable."

While indeed during the night Lucy had wound herself around Natsu's arm, that was not the true reason that he had stayed. In fact, the short nap that he had decided to take the night prior had simply turned into a full blown REM sleep cycle. Dreams and all. He smiled back at the particular memory of one of the steamier dreams that plagued him concerning the blonde.

Lucy's blush turned a full fifty shades of red in embarrassment.

After her mother had passed away, Lucy grew a habit of clenching tight to anything or anyone near her when she slept. Countless times she would wake up with her father passed out in the chair beside her, holding his arm so tightly he couldn't have escaped if he tried.

"Arggghhh" She hid her head in frustration.

Taking this as a chance to stop the moment from turning awkward, Natsu sat up and walked towards the dining room.

"I told Virgo earlier to inform the chef to prepare us breakfast, it should be finished." he yawned as he exited the room.

Mortified that Virgo must have walked in on her practically groping Natsu, Lucy buried her head further into her pillow in a weak attempt to become invisible.

* * *

The weekend flew by rather quickly with Lucy spending most of her time exploring the residence as well as catching up on assignments her teachers had given her Friday. By some great chance of luck she was able to avoid her future husband the entire rest of the weekend as he was away for "business" as Virgo informed her.

"The young master really seems to have taken a liking to you Miss. Heartfillia" Virgo chatted wistfully while laying out Lucy's school clothes.

Lucy's eye twitched slightly at the girl's comment. "I think you've mixed up 'taking a liking to' with the much more appropriate version of 'taken a liking to the prospect of teasing and torturing me'".

Virgo blushed at Lucy's comment of teasing and torturing from the young master. Her imagination began to flow as she completely took those words out of context.

The young maid smiled at the fact that the young master had finally found someone to share his life with. Over the years that she had served the Dragneel family, she had often watched him sit alone at the dinner table. While the odd time Mr. Fullbuster would come over, the rest of Natsu's family were rarely ever home; let alone in the country. Years passed as did the many holidays where he would simply sit; alone.

"It's so nice to see you get along so well with the young master Miss Heartfillia." Virgo smiled, oblivious as she walked towards the door to take her leave for the evening.

"I told you to call me Lucy!" Lucy yelled behind her as the maid closed the door.

Shaking her head, Lucy sighed as she sprawled out across her lush King sized bed. Her mind drifted momentarily and she caught herself thinking of Natsu. She remembered the feel of his warm arms and the way his words caught her off guard time and time again. In her opinion was strange alright.

Getting lost in her thoughts, she completely didn't hear the sound of running water coming from her bathroom.

All of a sudden, the Leonardo unit beside Lucy's bed starting to ring, signalling an incoming video call. The loud ringing noise had jolted the girl's thoughts completely away from the pink haired enigma that was her husband to be.

 _I'm going to have to change the volume on this thing later_ she thought as she cleared her throat.

"Answer" Lucy confirmed as the monitor's video chat opened.

"Hey Lu" a young man with ice blonde hair smiled at her through the monitor.

Lucy's eyes started to tear up upon seeing her childhood friend Sting on the other end. It had felt like months since she sat with him in the hospital when in reality it had not even been a full week.

"Hey Sting" she smiled to her ears.

"Long time no see stranger." he chastised. "I've been trying to call you for the past couple of days with no response." his rant began, "Then, imagine my surprise when out of no where, I come back from the bathroom to my hospital bed to find a nice little note with a new Leo code to contact you. You know you could have waited for me to get back before scurrying off wherever you did." he gave her a very disapproving; very Sting look.

Lucy chuckled to herself at her friends very predictable anger at the fact that she had up and disappeared out of no where.

Sighing, Sting continued to speak. "And here I was all excited to tell you some big news!"

Lucy could see a twinkle in his eye that he hadn't had the last time she saw him. One that reminded her of him in his youth.

Over the years Lucy and Sting had always been close to one another. Lucy's grandmother had introduced the two shortly after her mother had died in hopes to bring Lucy out of her grief. It came as a surprise to Grandeeney that her plan had worked out so well.

The moment she saw that her granddaughter was smiling again, Grandeeney decided to immediately transfer Sting's mother from their Paris tech development department to the Seattle branch.

However when Sting was diagnosed with Stargardt's, although he stayed strong throughout most of it, Lucy could see how much it dampened his spirit. He refused to let her see him in his weakest state, yet Lucy would sometimes find herself listening to him cry outside of his hospital room door. It was because he was there for her throughout the hardest part of her life that made Lucy realize she would do anything to help him. Even marry a complete stranger.

That twinkle in his eyes gave Lucy hope.

"News? What news could you possibly have for me? I swear if its a spoiler on one of our netflix addictions I'll hang up on you and you wont hear from me for more than just a week" she teased playfully.

Sting smiled at Lucy's empty threat. "Don't worry its not a spoiler, its something even better." he tempted her without revealing details.

"Oh come out with it!" she demanded as she pretended to pout.

Deciding he had held onto his news long enough, Sting finally spilled what had gotten him so excited.

"I've been chosen Lucy!"

The colour drained from Lucy's face. How could she have forgotten about the cure? She momentarily chastised herself for not spending more time thinking of how to lie to her best friend about the whole wonder drug for fake bride deal. Shaking away thoughts of her lousy acting abilities, Lucy pressed him further with a smile.

"Chosen for what?"

"I've been chosen out of thousands of people for a trial drug which has an extremely high success rate for curing my disease. Can you believe it Lu? I didn't even know that Fullbuster pharmaceuticals was even working on a vaccine. Then, out of nowhere, my doctors are telling me that I've been chosen out of countless patients as one of the few who can take part in the trial." His mouth ran a mile a minute, a trait he had picked up from Lucy over the years.

Lucy's face went blank at his confession. While she knew she had made the necessary arrangements to have Sting be a part of the Cryo-36 drug trials, the assertion that Natsu and Gray were keeping up their end of the deal made all of her efforts up to now worth it.

The sudden burst of happiness she felt at seeing Sting's happy face quickly dwindled as she remembered she had to keep this whole facade a secret from her best friend. She had never been good at lying to Sting, however she needed to in order to not break the secrecy clause of her and Natsu's contract.

Her resolution rebooted from hearing that Sting's treatment was indeed going forward, Lucy plastered the biggest smile she could muster as she quickly congratulated her best friend. They were both tearing up as they exchanged a knowing glance in a comfortable silence.

"Where are you anyway?" Sting questioned. "I start preliminary treatment tonight in order to prepare for the drug trial, however I have to be transported to England in December for closer observation under Fullbuster doctors. We have a lot of episodes to binge watch before I go." he laughed.

Lucy's smile faltered for a moment, an action that did not go unnoticed by Sting.

"Is everything ok Lu? You look like your hiding something from me…" he got straight to the point.

Shaking her head quickly as if to convince herself, Lucy decided she had to tell Sting that she wouldn't be able to see him for awhile.

"Actually… I've got some news for you as well." She smiled, hoping he couldn't see through her. "You know that wonderful grandmother of mine? Crazy and demanding with a impeccable ability to mess with my life?"

Sting smiled as he nodded through the video chat.

"The one who convinced my mother to move to America in less than a two minute conversation via phone? If I'm not mistaken I do believe I recall her." he mused thoughtfully.

"That's the one." Lucy rolled her eyes.

"It turns out that Grandeeney decided she wanted me to spend some time abroad in order to 'develop some cultural experience.' as she puts it. She kind of enrolled me in a school exchange program and I've started classes at a sister school in England of all places" Lucy blurted out a little too fast.

Soaking in Lucy's sudden admission, Sting took a moment before he spoke.

"Well? How is it?" he questioned simply.

Lucy almost fell off her bed.

"Really!? 'How is it?' That's all the reaction I get from you? I was expecting at least a hint of shock to pass across your face. Your lack of outrage is creeping me out" she reasoned aloud to herself.

Sting simply shrugged his shoulders. "Well it kind of works out doesn't it? I have to be in England for over a year with my treatment, and now I find out my best friend wont be separated by an ocean? Seems legit to me. If I am going to be outraged at something it would be the lack of strawberry jello coming from the hospital cafeteria. I mean, I've been asking for it for days now."

Lucy laughed, their conversations always taking turns in unexpected directions.

"So? How is it on the other side of the pond?" Sting inquired.

Thinking for a moment on how to describe her recent experience in a new country, Lucy decided she might as well paint a pretty picture so he wouldn't worry too much. She needed him to focus on his health and having him stress about her current situation would not be good for anyone.

"It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be." She mused as she tapped her hand on her cheek lightly. "The school places students in classes based on their intelligence level so I don't have to deal with people like Sorano Agira on a daily basis anymore."

Sting chuckled at this. "You really never got over that incident in grade school have you?"

Lucy grumbled at the memory of Sorano rallying the other girls in the class to gang up on her for hanging out too much with Sting. He had been quite the popular kid in school with his foreign silvery hair and many of the girls in class were too shy to approach him.

"Do you have any idea how many pairs of shoes I had to buy because she, or one of her cronies would hide mine?" Lucy seethed.

Sting laughed at this and decided to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand. While he was surprised that Lucy had left so suddenly she didn't even have the time to say goodbye, he reasoned Grandeeney was the mysterious cause behind that aspect of her departure. He wasn't a fan of the idea of her being so far away, but reasoned that if she was happy then he could deal with it, especially since he would be flying out there for the new year.

"How are the people? Are they treating you nice?" he questioned.

Pondering about her interactions with her classmates Lucy came to the conclusion that while they were rather forward, they all seemed relatively friendly. At her old school she was used to being invisible and even preferred it that way. However being invisible in a school where new enrolment is seldom seemed like an impossible task.

"Hmm… Everyone has been really nice. I've even made three new friends." she tried to assure him.

Although Natsu was her fiancé, she had to put him firmly in a friendship bubble in her head in order to be convincing enough for Sting. When it came to thinking of Mavis as a friend, her thoughts softened a bit as she truly believed she could become close with the girl. Thirdly, while Gray was more of a evil debt collector rather than a friend, he was someone she could recognize and go to in a pinch so that had to be good enough for now."

Feeling slightly assured that Lucy was doing okay, Sting smiled that good things were happening in both their lives.

"Mr. Eucliffe, I am here to pick you up for your scheduled MRI" a nurses voice rang from Sting's end.

"I gotta go Lu, duty calls." Sting waved at her.

"An MRI? Is everything okay?" Lucy's voice hitched slightly.

"Yes yes there is nothing to worry about. Its all part of the preliminary stuff I have to take care of for the trial. One step closer." He waved off her concerns.

"I'll call you later. Have a good day at school tomorrow."

Lucy sighed as their call ended. While she hadn't exactly lied to Sting, she hadn't told him the full truth and that in itself was exhausting all in its own. She stretched tiredly as she decided a nice warm bath would ease her tired muscles. She had finished all the homework that was assigned and her mind needed a good soak just as much as her body.

Springing up from her bed, Lucy stripped down to a towel and headed towards her bathroom door. When she went to open it however, she was greeted with a billowing cloud of steam exiting the room.

 _Thats strange._ She thought as she had been in her room all day and certainly had not turned on the bath. _Perhaps Virgo turned on the faucet before she left…_

Turning towards the bathtub, Lucy's eyes met with another pair that was attached to a very wet, very naked, Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

 _Bang._

"Ouch"

 _Crash._

"Will you-"

 _Whack_

"Stop throwing-"

Lucy ran out of objects to throw as she clenched her towel tightly to her body.

"Things at me." Natsu finished.

"What the hell are you doing in my tub? How the hell did you even get in here anyway? I've been in my room for hours." Lucy seethed.

"Well if you must know, I used this mythical portal called a door. Its really revolutionary you must try it some time." Natsu grumbled painfully as he rubbed his bruised forehead. "Have you ever considered joining baseball? Shot put? Or Javelin perhaps?"

Lucy whipped her toothbrush at him.

"Javelin it is then." he teased.

"I will ask you one more time Mr. Dragneel, what in god's name gave you the idea that it was ok to simply walk through a ladies room and use her bathtub?"

Chuckling to himself that he was able to get her fired up so easily, Natsu gave her towel-clad figure an appraising glance before answering.

"Well, first things first. Technically I didn't walk though your room to get here. Secondly, I do not believe you were told that this bathtub was exclusively yours, it _is_ attached to my room after all."

The walls closed in around Lucy as she slowly registered what he had just said. Slowly, she turned to inspect the bathroom in full. It was then that she saw it.

Normally Lucy would leave her bathroom door open incase Virgo was in the other room housekeeping and she wanted to chat. She was never one for closed doors as they made her feel claustrophobic.

But now she saw that with the door fully closed, something important had eluded her. Lucy shuddered when she saw that when the door was open, it had blocked her view of another entrance.

Striding quickly to the door, Lucy wrenched it open to discover a mirror version of her own quarters. However while Lucy's room was filled with light feminine hues of purple, this room was unmistakably masculine. The walls, a soft grey paired with a dark duvet king bed screamed what she assumed Natsu's taste to be.

Circling back to the bathroom, Lucy headed back towards the bathroom beelining for her room.

"You know your welcome to join me love." he teased. "I'm not one to waste water."

Lucy slammed the bathroom door, the loud _click_ of the lock signalling she had just about enough of Natsu Dragneel for one evening.

* * *

There you go guys! Sorry it was late. I went camping on the weekend and wouldn't you know it? No internet connection. In the woods. Ludacris I know :P


	8. All tripped up

Thanks everyone for all the reviews and follows! They mean a lot

* * *

The sun filtered into Natsu's room the following morning, waking him gently from his good nights rest. He stretched slightly but stopped when he realized something was weighing down his body.

Having a strong sense of deja vu, he peaked towards his waist and was completely taken aback at the site before him. Lucy, her hair loose cascading around her, was wrapped around him slumbering in what must have been shortest nightgown Natsu had ever seen. He flushed for a moment, letting his thoughts get away from him.

Recalling the night before he found himself wondering how their current predicament could have come to pass. He distinctly remembered her locking the door between her room and the bathroom, and was quite certain he heard her lock her main bedroom entrance as well. That, he hoped, would be enough to rule out him somehow kidnapping her in the middle of the night and bringing her to his bed.

While his future bride may look like a sleeping angel, he would be lying to himself if he didn't admit his fear at her response when she woke up.

Because she had locked her door, Natsu reasoned she must have come to his bed of her own concession. Thinking logically, Natsu immediately dismissed the idea that she had simply wanted to cozy up with him, especially judging from how she reacted to discovering him in their bathroom. No. If he was to think logically the only possible reason would be that she was a sleepwalker.

"Uhgggg not another one." He whispered to himself.

Over the years Gray would often stay over at Natsu's house when they hung out too late and it was through him that Natsu got his first experience with sleep walkers. The amount of times Natsu found his backpack in the freezer and his shoes in the oven astounded him over the years. It got so bad that he customized a room specifically for Gray where he could lock the door from the outside just to keep him contained.

He had a habit of stripping in his sleep.

Glancing at his alarm, Natsu noticed it was time to get ready for school. Although he was frustrated that he had to wake her, especially since she wasn't such a pain when she was asleep, Natsu did the only logical thing he could think of. Pinching the tip of sleeping beauty's nose, he waited five seconds before she woke with a start, coughing as she gasped for air.

"You know, while it's rather flattering to have you cling to me like that, we really must get ready for school Miss Heartfillia." He joked.

Finally getting enough air, Lucy turned groggy eyed towards the other occupant of the bed. She was sleepy and angry as to who would dare disturb her sleep, especially one without her reoccurring nightmares. Upon seeing Natsu's face, Lucy quickly gave him a mortified shove, successfully flipping him off the bed.

"What are you doing in my bed! Argh! The bathroom is one thing but…" Lucy blinked as she gazed around at the grey walls and the black comforter she had pulled up over her nightgown.

"Why am I in your room…" She marvelled as she finally put two and two together. "No…I didn't. I haven't sleep walked in years. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?" she screamed into her pillow, embarrassment flushing obviously across her whole body.

Rubbing his now re-bruised head, Natsu shook his head as he got up to get ready for school.

"Just like Gray. I cant believe there's two of them." Natsu mumbled bitterly as he headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully for Lucy. She moved from class to class and handed in her appropriate homework, all the while refusing to think of her overly embarrassing morning.

After avoiding the cafeteria (and therefore Natsu) at lunch, Lucy found herself particularly starving as she headed towards her physical education class. She glanced quickly at the activity board to find that they would be doing Soccer for the next few days. She shuddered inertly at the thought of doing an outdoor sport. While she was rather skilled when it came to things like basketball and volleyball, for some reason when it would come to grass and unpredictable weather, her clumsiness level rose twenty points.

Entering the locker room, she headed towards the locker she had been assigned and changed into her gym strip. Giving herself a glance in the mirror before leaving, Lucy shuttered slightly at the form fitting uniform that was standard here. As the weather had yet to turn from the warm fall days to the cold wintery nights, black spandex shorts paired with a loose white jersey was deemed the season's gym strip. Shaking her head at how much of her skin was showing, Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out a long sleeve sweater to cover up.

Once out on the field, the teams were split up by the teacher and Lucy found herself on the opposing team of Gray. Noticing the way he glared at a nearby soccer ball, Lucy concluded he must not like the sport very much. She wondered why for a moment as she glanced at his tall frame. On the one hand, Lucy would be lying if she said that he didn't have an athletic build, so he must work out in some way. On the contrary, the pissed off expression he was wearing seemed to clearly indicate that he did not like the sport.

Shaking her head from her thoughts, Lucy lined up on her side of the field.

"Well, here goes nothing."

* * *

Natsu sighed as he placed his head against the cool classroom's window. His teacher was going on and on over problems Natsu could solve in his sleep and it was starting to bore him.

Noticing movement in the field below, Natsu's eyes briefly scanned over the gym class that was emerging from the gymnasium. Noticing Gray right away from his overly tall appearance, Natsu's eyes scanned the group for the familiar face of his fiancé. It didn't take long for Natsu to find her as there were so few girls in her class to begin with.

Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and, he noted with a smirk, she was the only one who covered up their obscene school uniform with a sweater. His smirk faded however when he watched where her gaze followed. Looking further down the field, Natsu blinked slightly at Lucy's stare at Gray.

 _Why is she only looking at him?_ Natsu thought as a faint pang of jealousy began to simmer within him.

Squinting his eyes to get a better view, Natsu almost laughed aloud at his friends evident displeasure. Ask anyone who knows Gray Fullbuster and they will tell you that he is an excellent athlete. While his true ability was reserved for a skating rink or a basketball court, an uncanny jinx of misfortune seemed to rear its ugly head whenever the boy even approached a soccer ball.

So far, in the long time that Natsu has known Gray, he has managed to sprain both his ankles, broken three people's arms, and inflicted ten nosebleeds to not only his opponents, but teammates as well. One time, a soccer ball was just on the ground behind him, he wasn't even playing, and someone slipped on it and broke their collarbone.

Often Gray would skip any gym class that soccer would be played so Natsu wondered why he was out there at all.

The sound of a whistle jerked Natsu from his thoughts as he watched the clumsy game unfold. Lucy, surprisingly, just ran up and down the field staying far away from the action. Natsu would have taken her for an athlete the way she hurled her toothbrush at him the other day. Gray however was a whole other story. While Lucy was at least attempting to make it look like she was participating in order to get a passing grade, Gray had given up and decided to lay down in the freshly cut grass, scowling.

Looking back to Lucy, she was nearing Gray's side of the field. Once she had taken a few steps past him she noticed the ball was flying at her. Kicking her leg out on instinct, Lucy's foot connected with the ball as it soared through the air harshly into the net.

Lucy blinked.

After it had sunk in that she had just scored a goal, she instantly rose her hands into the air and began to hop around as her teammates gave her a high five. Ignoring her surroundings, Natsu watched hopelessly as she backed up over an unaware Gray, tripping over him in the process.

Natsu rose from his seat, his classmates staring at him as he watched, in horror, as two _male_ classmates put their arms around her to carry her to the infirmary.

His eye twitched.

"Mr. Dragneel, what are you doing?" Mrs. Sequen; his math teacher, questioned.

Ignoring her, Natsu ran out the classroom leaving behind a very confused group of people.

* * *

Rounding the corner in a beeline effort to reach the infirmary, Natsu's eyes landed on a scowling Gray in the hallway. He looked up at Natsu with a look of surprise that he had already found out Lucy was hurt.

"Gray, how is she?" he questioned as he reached for the doorknob, frowning when the thing wouldn't open.

"They took her in there and locked me out. Something about too many people being in the room at once." he gritted through his teeth, seething.

Gray looked up at Natsu's worried expression and his anger began to subside, replacing it with a dull ache of guilt.

"Sorry…I knew I shouldn't have played."

Waving away Gray's apology, Natsu simply stated that it was an accident as his head fixed on the door separating him from Lucy. Gray was surprised his glare hadn't burned a hole through the entrance yet.

The sound of the door clicking alerted Natsu and Gray that they were finally about to get some answers. Emerging first were the two boys that had carried Lucy to the nurse in the first place. Two boys from Lucy's class, Loki and Gajeel, exited with looks of surprise at seeing Natsu there.

They understood Gray had known Lucy from how she conversed with him freely since her first day at school. Natsu Dragneel's presence however, made them wonder. It was common knowledge that Lucy was billeting a room from his family, yet their connection beyond that was still a mystery to everyone at the school.

Ignoring the two boys, Natsu's eyes fell on Lucy holding herself up with crutches.

A flash of emotion passed over Natsu's face on her injured form, before he put up a mask of indifference.

"Broken?" he questioned.

"No, just sprained." she replied.

Natsu let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"You are aware that only an idiot trips over what's behind them." he smirked.

Natsu watched at the colour that began to creep up his future wife's neck as she scrunched up her nose in anger.

Letting out a huff, Lucy started to step forwards as if to walk away when she forgot the crutches she was suppose to be supporting herself on.

Letting out a loud "eep" as she fell forward, the girl squeaked as she headed towards the floor, unable to be supported by her right leg. Closing her eyes as she headed straight for the ground, Lucy was surprised to have a strong pair of arms wrapped around her instead.

She heard an audible sigh as she felt her body being picked up and thrown over a broad set of shoulders.

Her face turning red for a completely different reason, Lucy began to beat her fists into Natsu's back as he carried her out of the room like a sack of potatoes.

"Put me down you…you JERK" she struggled for words.

"Gray, bring the crutches to my house after class, I am taking Miss. Heartfillia home." he ordered as he started walking towards the parking lot.

After finding her struggles against him only hurt her foot further, Lucy fell limp on his shoulders as she hid her hands in her face in embarrassment.

Natsu Dragneel, she surmised in that moment, was the most infuriating man she had ever met.


	9. Ladies first

The rest of the week passed by in a bit of a blur for Lucy. While her sprain hadn't been all that serious, she still lost balance when she would overestimate her recovery time. Natsu had made Gray bring in his team of doctors to agree with the nurses diagnoses that it was indeed, merely a sprain. They said she should be feeling as good as new within a week, but encouraged her to keep off of it as much as possible in the mean time.

It was around dinner time on Thursday night that Lucy finally felt well enough to walk without crutches. She slowly walked towards the dining table and opened her eyes in surprise at seeing Natsu already sitting there.

The past couple of nights when she had come to the dining room, Virgo had informed her that the 'young master' as she called him; was busy. It was because of this that her mouth hung slightly open at having him actually show up.

"You know it's rather rude to stare Miss Heartfillia." Natsu's voice rang her from her thoughts.

Glaring at him momentarily, Lucy sighed as she ignored his taunts. If there was one thing that she had learned over the past week, it was that Natsu thoroughly enjoyed making her angry.

 _Not tonight._ She thought as she eased herself in to the chair opposite.

A moment of silence filled the room as Lucy picked at the food placed in front of her.

"So…how's the leg." Natsu asked casually as he reached for his glass of water. His young bride-to-be's unnatural silence was maddening.

"Still not one hundred percent." she admitted as she tucked her napkin over her lap. "But I'm for sure on the mend."

"At least you're off crutches. Those would have been annoying to drag around Paris this weekend." Natsu took a bite of his steak.

Lucy's eyes flashed towards Natsu in a confused manner. "What do you mean Paris this weekend?"

Cocking his head to the side, Natsu gave her a quisling stare before continuing. "The annual school cultural trip where they send our classes around the world to," he paused as he thought of the right word, "absorb?"

Lucy's face paled visibly before rising from her seat a little too fast.

"Ouch! Damn it!" she cursed at the throbbing pain sent up her leg.

Standing in worry, Natsu asked her if she was ok.

"You know you could always skip. I'm sure I can get a doctor to write you-"

"No, I'm going." Lucy interrupted.

Ever since her mother died Lucy's grandmother had placed strict requirements on her ability to travel. While the rest of her classmates were able to go to places all over the world for their school trips, Lucy had been forced to stay behind like a bird in a cage.

She reasoned that her grandmother was just being overprotective, however Lucy couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to explore the world with friends. She had read once, that outings with students often spurred friendships and that was something Lucy was actually interested in.

At her old school people had only known her as Sting's friend or as an outsider. She had never gotten along well with the jealous fan girls who thought she was dating him. Now that she was at a new school with zero reputation and no strings attached to Sting, Lucy saw this as an opportunity to make some new friends.

"Are you sure? I don't think you should go. I can call Gray to get a note written.." Natsu began to reach for his phone.

"Natsu, wait." she breathed as she crossed to his side of the table and placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

Slightly shocked at her initiated contact, and even more shocked that she had called him by his actual name instead of her usual curt "Mr. Dragneel," Natsu felt a spark course through his veins at her touch.

Dropping her hand quickly as though she had been burned, Lucy plastered a smile that Natsu had never seen before on her face. "Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm fine, really. Just a bit shocked because I didn't hear anything about a school trip this weekend. I guess that's what happens when you don't know anyone yet." She rambled.

Natsu's fingers twitched at his side as he began to reach forward.

Turning on her heel, Lucy discarded her partially eaten meal as she headed towards her room to pack. "I'll see you in the morning!" she called over her shoulder.

Natsu released his stilled breath as he snapped out of whatever trance she had put him in. He really had to get over this whole starstruck idiot character he became whenever his future wife was near.

 _So uncool._ Natsu thought as he returned to his plate.

* * *

The flight to Paris was relatively short considering the students took off in one of the school's planes. While Lucy's old school had a helicopter pad out back she was surprised to find her new school came equipped with its very own landing strip. She reasoned that Fairy Tail must have some pretty deep pockets stemming from some pretty old money.

Looking around the baggage claim Lucy saw Mavis attempting to pull off a bag bigger than her from the carousal. Reaching forward, Lucy helped the blonde with her luggage.

"Thanks for that." Mavis smiled.

"Any time." Lucy huffed as she grabbed her own luggage that came around.

The two girls made their way to the tour busses outside, cramming in regardless of grade status. The bus ride was a mere half hour and by the time the group arrived to the hotel their teachers were already handing out room keys; urging them to freshen up quickly so they could keep up with the itinerary for the day.

"Shall we?" Mavis flashed a golden key card towards Lucy.

Raising her eyebrow at the girl's forwardness, Lucy thought it best not to question why they would be sharing a room when they were in completely different classes. She was under the impression that when Mavis made a decision, there was nothing that could get in her way.

The two excitedly grabbed their luggage and made their way towards a quickly filling up elevator. Mavis and Lucy shoved themselves and their oversized bags in, pressing the 7th floor as they did.

"You do realize that this is only a three day trip." A familiar drawl whispered into Lucy's ear.

Lucy jumped slightly as she finally realized who was standing behind her.

She sighed.

Raising his eyebrow at her rather lacklustre of a response, Natsu pressed her further.

"What could you have possibly packed in order to need a bag of that size?"

Lucy bit her tongue as she thought of how to retort.

"I'm not fond of being unprepared" she quoted his words earlier that week.

Smirking, Natsu gave her a slight push on her back as the elevator doors opened.

"Ladies first."


	10. Gate of the Water Bearer

It wasn't until later that evening that Natsu and Lucy would cross each others paths.

Lucy had spent the entire day being dragged to every corner of the city by an overly enthusiastic Mavis.

How, you may ask, did she find herself away from all the potential classmate friendships she was suppose to make on this trip?

Unfortunately, those plans were thwarted the moment Lucy made the mistake of mentioning to Mavis that this was her first time in Paris at the exact same moment that the tour guide strapped on his mini microphone.

It only took fifteen minutes into the tour for Mavis to decide that she had had enough.

"But shouldn't we stay with the tour guide?" Lucy questioned as a limo pulled up, the driver quickly getting out and opening the door for the two of them.

Shaking her head in frustration, Mavis glared angrily towards said tour guide.

"His french is mediocre at best. I am from Paris and will therefore be the perfect guide." she reasoned matter-of-factly.

Lucy could have swore she heard Mavis muttering something about a "Quebec accent" and somthing similar to "tour guide my ass" as she entered the vehicle.

Alas, while Lucy did miss out on the experience of making friends with her classmates as she had planned, she did wind up having an amazing time bonding with Mavis. They visited the Louvre and walked in Notre Dame's halls. Mavis had even climbed the long spiral staircase of the Arc de Triomphe; in heels no less.

While it wasn't exactly the day she had expected, Lucy found it to be rewarding no less. Her bond with Mavis strengthened immensely and for the first time in a long time Lucy had a new female friend.

She had always read about these places and saw photos of them regularly in pictures and movies; but to finally see them up close and personal was like a dream come true. They even got special access to places that regular tours couldn't go.

' _Mavis must be truly famous in Paris'_ Lucy thought as she munched on her dinner. The two of them were currently sitting in a private section of a fancy restaurant in the eiffel tower.

"So," Mavis's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Are you enjoying your time here?"

Lucy nodded, swallowing her food.

Mavis smiled.

"And what about at Natsu's place. Is he treating you good?"

Coughing slightly at the mention of Natsu, Lucy reached forward and took a sip of her water.

In truth she had to admit that the guy had started to rub off on her. Between their late night netflix marathons and cooking adventures, she had come to know him a bit better on a personal level. She didn't exactly hate the guy, but she didn't know exactly what it was she was feeling towards him either. He was a very frustrating young man and had a nasty habit of teasing her to the brink of anger. However she had also seen other sides of him where he shows genuine concern for her well being.

Lucy was about to complain about the pink haired demon in question, however she caught the strange way Mavis was looking at her. The small girl almost looked concerned.

"Natsu's been fine." Lucy began. "I'm actually adjusting rather well, given the circumstances."

Mavis let out a small breath of what sounded like relief and cracked a wide smile.

"Natsu eh? He must be making progress if he's finally gotten you to drop the whole 'Mr. Dragneel' nickname." Mavis winked.

A faint blush began to creep up Lucy's neck at the girls teasing.

"I-i-it's not like that." She stuttered.

"Not like what?" Mavis nudged.

If someone would put a tomato next to the current Lucy, they would be hard pressed to distinguish which of the two were redder.

"I've decided I just cant simply keep calling him Mr. Dragneel much longer. It would be strange once were officially engaged to not call him by his first name. I might as well get used to it." Lucy tried to argue.

Taking a long sip from her exotic looking drink, Mavis's grin turned into a full on maniacal smile. Snapping her fingers, the petite girl beckoned the waiter and told him to bring Lucy one of what she was having.

* * *

 _Where the hell is she._

That question had been asked again and again all day in Natsu's head as he suffered through what must have been the most lacklustre tours of all time. He had hoped to be in the same group as her, yet Mavis had somehow spirited his bride-to-be away when no one else was looking.

Upon getting back to the hotel after exploring the city all day, Gray had left to his room leaving Natsu stationed at the lobby in order to ensure that the girls came back safely.

Checking the clock once again, Natsu huffed at the fact that it was now 9pm. The rug in front of the concierge desk was beginning to show tread marks from the amount of times Natsu had paced back and forth on it.

He was so fed up that he was on the brink of calling in his secret service to track the two blondes down. He would have to have a word with Mavis on boundaries. She couldn't just up and leave with Lucy without telling him first. _That should be common sense._ He reasoned.

Just as he pulled out his cellphone his thoughts were interrupted by what sounded almost unmistakably like a hiccup.

Turning towards the lobby front doors, Natsu was greeted by the sight of two very intoxicated young women.

"NATSHUUUUUUU" Mavis screamed loudly before covering her mouth at her own volume. "Oopssie"

"ShHhhHh Mavisss. We don't _-hiccup-_ want to get caught!" Lucy stumbled beside her.

Natsu's face went white. How the hell did these two idiots get drunk? Better yet, how was he going to handle this.

Deciding he needed to hide the two girls, Natsu quickly walked up to them with the intention of guiding them towards the elevator. The only problem? He needed the girls key card in order to access their floor.

"Mavis, do you have the key?" he inquired as the girl fished sloppily into her purse.

"I had - _hiccup_ \- a blue key once. Open, gate of the water bearer! Aquarius" Lucy mumbled drunkenly as she squeezed her water bottle so tightly it exploded all over her.

Natsu's eye twitched.

 _Note to self. Never be alone with Lucy when she's drunk._

"I has gots the KEY! YAyyaYYYY" Mavis's volume control failing once more.

"Neh Neh Natsu!" Lucy perked up as if she had just now seen him standing there.

She began to reach towards him, her now soaking clothes beginning to turn more see through with ever passing second. Taking a step back each time she took a step towards him, Natsu held up his hands in efforts to ward off the intoxicated female. His back hit a wall as she bounded forward and jumped into his waiting arms.

Lucy sighed as she buried her head into his chest, Natsu's blush matching his hair perfectly.

He swore he heard her snoring however his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something he definitely didn't want happening.

"Bye bye!" Mavis called from inside the elevator as the doors began to shut with her inside.

"Wait! You have the keys to her room! Don't leave me alone with-"

The elevator doors closed and Natsu was left standing in the middle of the lobby with a passed out Lucy in his arms.

"Great. Just freaking great."

A group of guys exited the elevator next to him and gave him an odd look, their eyes lingering a little too long on the soaking wet Lucy for Natsu's liking.

A sudden wave of possessiveness bubbled within Natsu at the thought of a strange man wanting Lucy.

Picking up his bride-to-be he almost snarled as he quickly brushed past them and slammed his own key card into the elevator scanner, almost breaking it.

The loud sound slightly jostled Lucy from her drunken slumber as the elevator doors closed with them inside.

 _Im cold...Why am I all wet?_ She wondered hazily as she leaned further into the warmth she was currently pressed against.

Reaching her arms up around his neck to completely envelop herself in his body heat, Lucy reached forward and planted a quick kiss on the young man's mouth.

Natsu was in shock.

Why in the world was she kissing him? Natsu's thoughts ran a mile a minute when the all too familiar taste of alcohol reached his lips.

Pulling back, Natsu was about to protest as the girl suddenly slumped against him in pure drunken exhaustiveness.

"Mavis I tolds youz I'd getss the hang of that french kiss ggreeeeting.." Lucy mumbled drunkenly as she once again faded into oblivion.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed it and review! The more reviews usually mean the more people will read:D Every one counts, even if its just a word! Also, If any of you are interested in watching a Nalu Gruvia manga music video I made, look up my video called "Hold Each Other ❤ A Fairy Tail AMV Nalu Gruvia" by Jada on youtube!


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